The fall semester brings a chance to start fresh, and for many juniors, it’s a chance to recover from the sophomore slump.

Your freshman year of college was your first chance to be on your own and discover all the excitement of dorm shopping, moving to a new city and making new friends. All of that energy, coupled with relatively easy lower-division courses, probably made for a pretty peaceful year academically.

Then it hits you: the dreaded sophomore slump.

You’re trying to push through as your classes get more complex, and you feel hopelessly closer to the beginning than the end. The novelty of college has worn off, and you might even feel a little homesick.

I found that the number of responsibilities I had ballooned during my sophomore year, along with my independence. Most students move off campus by this time in their academic career, which makes getting to class and feeling connected to your university even more difficult.

Your grades drop. You feel overwhelmed by the thought of having two more years of this. The finish line seems out of reach.

Here we are upon another fall semester, and this time, you’re in recovery mode. You’ve got one failed semester under your belt, and your eyes are locked on your GPA and the renewal requirements for your precious scholarships.

Sophomores — here is some advice for avoiding this from someone who recovered from a terrifically bad sophomore slump in high school and college.

You have to learn how to say no. Sophomore year packs on your responsibilities. You’re hearing rumblings of internships and upper-division courses, and if you look around — your classes are thinning out as people drop out. If I had said no to that extra shift, hanging out with friends when I had a paper due or even just saying no to one more episode of Veep — maybe I could have pulled off a B in that language course instead of a C.

Stop obsessing over grades. Although this sounds antithetical to my last point, obsessing over every point can hurt you more than help. Outside the walls of an academic institution, your GPA does not matter. The real world does not care that you have 4.0. Sometimes, just trying your best is enough. Most students in college have GPA requirements for scholarships, and you should pay attention to that, but don’t drown pursuing perfection.

Reach out for help if you need to. Perhaps you are struggling to live up to the high bar you set in your first year of college, which can lead to anxiety or feelings of not measuring up. Reaching out to friends and family can help set you back on your feet again. If you don’t have safe people to talk to or think you might need more than just a chat over the phone with your loved ones, then reach out to the university’s counseling center. There is no shame in asking for help; you’d much rather do it when the feelings are beginning rather than later when you’ve flunked a class!

You can always get back up. If none of these things work for you and you find yourself deep in the trenches of your sophomore slump — just know you can always get back up. I dropped classes in both semesters of my sophomore year. I made disastrous grades in some of my courses, and I struggled with keeping up with extracurriculars, work and even myself. The only solution is to look ahead. Quit that job, move back home if you have to, and load up on summer courses to reach your hour requirements. Come into your junior year knowing you pulled yourself out of that hole once, and you really don’t want to do that again. Pay attention. Prioritize your health and wellness — and do your homework!