THE TRUTH ABOUT AP CLASSES
BY HOWARD YAN
There are countless proverbs that emphasize the
importance of working diligently in order to achieve
more in life. Quotes and sayings promising bright
futures and mirth abound in the long, noisy hallways
of intellectual institutions worldwide. However, not
many understand how hollow and understated these
statements are to Advanced Placement (AP)
students. does not cut it. Once a student enters the AP zone,
quality is of the uttermost importance. Regardless of
the effort or attempts a student puts in, teachers of
AP courses grade by looking for the most microscopic
and inconspicuous errors, waiting for the chance to
swipe the red pen across the paper wrinkled by tears
of frustration late at night under the cover of
exhaustion.
“The hardest part of an AP class is by far the huge
workload and how there are so many skills that
everyone has to master.” stated Cathryn Jiang, a 10th
grade student who is taking AP World History and AP
Chemistry. “I am not doing this for my health. I feel passionate
about the subjects I take and I know that this will
greatly benefit me.” stated Cathryn as she stared at
her textbooks.
According to recent studies, most non AP students
view AP courses as challenging and difficult. Many
believe that AP life only consists of repeating skills.
On the contrary, AP life is very lively with stress,
competition, and numerous other factors adding to
the mix. All AP students require a certain
determination to succeed and an understanding of
how difficult and costly the choice of an AP class is.
Simply doing “hard work”, a commonly used cliché,
Whether or not students enjoy AP courses is almost
impertinent. Behind the artificial image of the free
and invincible modern day student and the belief that
hard work is all it takes to succeed lies the
inconvenient truth. Even though the law views all
people equally, the same could not be said for AP
students, who face indescribable remorse and
pressure as they embark on their difficult journeys.
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