Picture an intelligent kid’s worst nightmare: easy A’s paired with reassessment and no finals. It is playing video games on novice with classes so easy that when children should be participating, they spend the 45 minutes of class catching Pokemon on their Chromebooks. No one tries as they could simply reassess, all children are just preparing to hit ‘restart level’ for the unit, and waiting for the semester to finally end.

Luckily, the school contains over 20 AP classes ranging from AP Music Theory to AP Physics. Push yourself to take as many as you can, and risk the wreckage of your sleep schedule and sanity. As the teacher announces the homework, planners are scribbled in as the students bear the stress of adding yet another assignment. “Current Event is due tomorrow,” “Make sure you read through chapter 4 by next week,” “The test is on Friday,” they say as students pack up. And if you are taking any more than 4 APs, you are now feeling like a complete idiot, as your to-do list, which seems to already be three pages long, continues to grow each and every period.  

Note sheets will continue to accumulate. New binders will appear to be 3 years old, tearing apart from every corner. The pressure grows exponentially as students work their way to some unknown goal. “This class can get you up towards 8 college credits,” the teacher says, and the students will groan as another reason to take these classes is added to the list. 

As the semester ends, you can see the relief on students’ faces. Success, in this case, can be determined by the thickness of your binder -- almost as if this is a pumpkin growing contest, trying to get the thickest/biggest pile of papers. You will wish your tablemates good luck as you wait for the results of your final -- one of which the core level classes did not take; instead, watched a movie. I hear many people resort back to the saying “C’s get degrees” or “I just need to get into college.” They wonder why AP students would endure so much stress when everyone will get to the same place. Because core classes may teach you the basics; but APs teach you everything you’ll need to know. I cannot understand why core and honors students never felt the joy of AP classes: a semester of hell containing all the learning we can possibly ask for.