In response to “AP Classes: Worth It?” I must say that they are. I myself am a sophomore enrolled in three AP classes, going to one of the most highly regarded public high schools in the country. It’s true, my friends and I are sleep-deprived. We wake up at 5:00 am every morning to get to zero period class. We study for what seems like a never ending stream of tests, and work in the late hours of the morning finishing projects. It is really worth it?

Most students would argue that it’s not. They would rather participate in sports, and extracurricular activities, or would just rather not have all that stress and have downtime afterschool. We’re teenagers, I get it, and I understand the need to hang out with friends. But for the few of us who dream of going to a prestigious university, we’re willing to make the sacrifice.

We live up to the true meaning of a student, someone who is willing to learn and dedicate their time to school. My best friends and I don’t hang out on the weekends as often as we would like. The majority of our weekends are spent trying to keep up with the staggering amount of work that is continually added to. Why would we torment ourselves willingly like this? Because taking an AP class shouldn’t just be for the college credit. If you can save yourself some classes at college, that’s a wonderful reward for all of your hard work. But that’s not why you should take it.

You may not be granted the credit for your AP class. Then what, you say, was the point of taking it? To learn. While not everyone’s teachers are like this, mine make the effort to teach the subject, not the test. The environment is student-friendly, and it’s okay if you are a nerd who strives for straight A’s. Teaching to the test, is in my eyes, destroying the whole point of going to school. If all you’re doing is memorizing answers to a test, did you really learn anything? So when I decided to take all of these classes, it’s because I wouldn’t be happy in a lower class. I enjoy mentally challenging myself with interesting courses, which is exactly what an AP class offers me. I didn’t take them for the credit; I took them for the pure enjoyment of intellectually advancing myself.

To say that we are not capable of learning a college level class in the time given us, is insulting. We are underestimated in our conviction that we will succeed in everything we attempt, and underestimated in the level of our intelligence. Who are you to tell us that we cannot achieve our goals because they are too high and unrealistic? How can we realize our full potential is if we are not allowed to try? We are striving for our “virtu”, in the words of Italian Humanists. How can America pull ahead of other countries in education, if America does not believe in her students? So challenge us we say, challenge us with the hardest classes you dare give us, be it AP, IB, etc., and we will proudly seize the day.