Students are handling more than what parents and other people can see. They are juggling school, hobbies, their mental health, extracurriculars and sports. However, the stress students have and all the time it takes to maintain a healthy lifestyle and stay on top of all schoolwork is often unconsidered.
“AP classes have definitely been stressful because the concepts are harder to grasp sometimes, but as for workload, I’d say that my experience with AP and regular classes have been about the same,” senior Sage Shah said.
We expect students to make straight A’s and be “academic weapons” all while maintaining a positive attitude, but people don’t consider their mental life and what goes on while they’re gone. Colleges expect no less than straight A’s from a student to be eligible to attend their school. They expect 28 credits, at least one sport, and three extracurriculars, often not accounting for the stress this can bring to balance everything. The standards are challenging just to be counted and seen as a “smart” student.
“I’d say yes, especially balancing college applications with school and extracurriculars and a social life has been tricky. Sometimes the hours just fly by after school, but I think there’s a lot of satisfaction in finding that balance and a lot of staying power in knowing that it usually all works out,” Staples (12) said.
According to a AP® Student Overwhelm: More Than Just High School Stress Article:
Cases say that neglecting previously enjoyed activities may cause increased agitation, anxiety, depression, along with more frequent illness, physical discomfort like headaches or stomach aches, and persistent fatigue.
“A lot of the time my AP classes can get in the way of personal time, because I take six which is double the amount of what I took last year, so yes it does get in the way,” Alex Gomez (11) said
Although school may give students a high level of stress, some students think that the number they have is an intellectual challenge, and has made them more mentally durable. This amount of work sets students up for college, and gives them an example of what expectations they have, such as perseverance and hard work.
“Honestly, it’s made me more mentally resilient, because I’ve learned how to balance my extracurriculars and my AP classes,” Staples (12) said.
School is taking over students’ free time– some students are having to spend hours on homework assignments alone. They don’t have enough time to do extra studying, much less any free time. Students who have to maintain school, sports, and extracurriculars have little to no time for relaxation.
“I normally spend two hours, but it has definitely decreased. Also, for studying, I take around an hour studying and overlooking my notes the night before a test or a quiz,” Staples (12) said.
According to a American Psychological Association (APA) 2017 survey: Students report their common symptoms of stress include insomnia, unhealthy eating habits, missed meals, feelings of anger, nervousness or anxiety towards friends and classmates. Adults should start encouraging others and themselves to try and identify these signs and the cause of stress in high school students, before it gets worse. It is critical to start understanding the causes of AP student stressors to help guide young minds through pressures of advanced classes with solutions to help cure that stress.
“It gets to a certain point where it starts to be too much to where I don’t understand how they let me take some many AP’s because the amount of work I’m given and it’s like conflicting dates, and I don’t know how to get all this work done,” Gomez (11) said.
The pressure on students to take AP classes is skyrocketing. Teachers give students the impression that to be your best self you’re required to take the best courses, while both normal and AP classes teach the same lessons but in different formats. If students are pushed into an AP class they don’t not desire to take, without good preparation and without a safety net in place at the school to help them if they get in over their head, then it may be more harmful than helpful.
“To do homework normally takes around four hours without studying for my tests and quizzes, I don’t have a week that goes by that I don’t have any homework or tests or quizzes,” Gomez (11) said.
According to an Chicago Tribune article: All the high achievers in one place is isolating students from the ability to learn off each other, and giving better resources to fewer students. Being in these AP classes can also lead to a sense of isolation or impostor syndrome as students begin to realize they are taking the class for the wrong reasons. This feeling of not belonging in space becomes very frustrating as students put their self-worth and energy into something purely due to the social pressure or having it on your transcript.
“I take six AP’s, so it’s a lot workload. Last year I took three and now I take six and that’s double the amount of work, homework, tests, and studying, I haven’t had a day that I haven’t had a quiz or a test,” Gomez (11) said.
