With another round of course selection finished, the overwhelming question among students, particularly those who are rising juniors and seniors, is how much of a challenge is too much of a challenge? The question begs the asker to think hard about their own personal motivation and how much time they are willing to spend on school outside of the classroom. Students face a lot of pressure in high school in order to reach a certain level of success, but it’s important to consider all sides when choosing classes, beyond what will simply look good on a resume.
As rising seniors begin thinking about college, there is a continuous struggle of attempting to find the balance between taking challenging courses that will benefit their GPA and picking classes they actually want to take. A subsequent obsession has seemed to take over the junior class as they have begun questioning their futures, and how their senior course load fits into it.
Junior student Ruby Grosshart commented that when selecting her classes she “felt overwhelmed with the choices,” because of the amount of classes offered at Fairfield Ludlowe High School. However, she believed that she was overwhelmed “in the best way possible,” because having a lot of options let her really explore what she was interested in. Finding classes she wanted to take was much easier with a lot of options then it would be with limited choices. After polling several students in an AP American Studies class there was an agreed sentiment. The students found the sheer amount of offered courses to come across as somewhat daunting. It’s impossible to ever take them all, and when you’re in high school it’s easy to feel like you have failed if you don’t pick the right ones.
Another junior student Nishka Desai, who is currently taking 4 APs, has mentioned that she spends several hours on her homework. She is not discouraged by this amount of work though, and is instead challenging herself further next year by taking 5 AP classes. This is not to say that a specific number of AP, honor, or college prep classes equates to a specific number of hours spent on homework. As Nishka puts it, “it all comes down to how much you are willing to do, and how much time you spend on things.” When polling four junior students, all who were in 3 APs, they each spent around 1 to 6 hours a night on homework. This shows there can be a wide range of time spent on homework and it really depends on the individual student.
With senior year rapidly approaching for junior students, classes are as much on their minds as college. There is an established idea in the culture of Fairfield Ludlowe, that if you don’t take a certain number of “hard” classes then you aren’t “smart”. Everyone is challenged in different ways, and works differently making it unfair to make this generalization. The focus should be shifting to what interests students the most, not what will boost their resume. Taking higher level classes in subjects students excel in is a good idea, but it’s important to take into account activities outside of school. Like Nishka mentioned, it’s very dependent on each student and how much time they can spend on their work. Classes that demand more time outside of the classroom, like AP classes, should be taken by students who have the time in their schedules to succeed in those classes.
Schedules aren’t the only thing that needs to be accounted for when deciding on classes though. Mental health and anxiety levels should be taken into account when thinking about course loads. A student who wishes to remain anonymous admitted they struggle with extreme anxiety which has increased due to school. They take 3 AP classes, a mix of humanities and STEM, but balance their schedule with a free period and taking a music class. Music is a great break in their day, that doesn’t require large amounts of work outside of class and is benefitting them in a lot of ways, such as building student relationships and communication skills. This is just one way students can find balance in their days, and breaks from classes that may create a lot of stress for them. Classes that aren’t career specific or rigorous GPA boosters still have their benefits, a truth students often forget.
Each student will always be different from their friends and peers. Course selection has become a somewhat crazy yearly endeavor for many students as they try to decide on classes. It’s key to remember that these singular classes are not going to determine a student’s entire future, and they should simply make the most of the opportunities while they have them.
