Ms. Litt perked her eyebrows as a response and said, “Are you sure?” I had already spoken to my advisor, parents, older friends, and teachers about it–yes, I was sure. I nodded and she said, “Okay.”
The final person I needed to meet with about my decision was Ms. Stevens, Academic Dean. In this meeting, we spoke about the nature of Advanced Placement classes and their reading intensive nature, the need for time management, and the inevitability of sleep deprivation. Ms. Stevens heard my readiness to meet the challenge, and I felt the conversation had been successful. As I got up to leave I expected to hear words of encouragement. However, I was informed that yet another meeting needed to take place, without me thankfully, to discuss my apparently controversial decision to take three APs.
A little storm cloud of frustration hung over my head; not only did I feel my academic program was out of my hands (not quite stifled because the school ultimately agreed to my academic endeavor), but I also felt that my informed decision was viewed as a teenager’s unrealistic perception of her future. When I talked to my peers about my desire to take three AP classes and Honors Latin they gave me the response I wanted, “Go for it, dude.”
Talking to the Class of 2010, many of whom I greatly admired, encouraged my junior self to choose classes that would challenge the senior me to my utmost potential. Fatima Hyacinthe `10 put it succinctly when she said to me, “You don’t want to look back next year and say ‘What if….'” Her comment made the choice for me: I was prepared to work my hardest during my last year of high school to ensure that I would never look back with regret. Now, I had to convince the adults that I was capable of rational thought.
I went to my advisor who was easily convinced. Then I talked to the teachers of the APs about their classes. I knew I wanted to take Human Geography because of its anthropological leanings, so I went to Mrs. Gallin who talked about the class with such passion that I was immediately won over. Next I talked to both Madame Toussaint and Madame Ostrow about AP French and, since I was doing a home stay in France that summer, I decided that my language skills would be strong enough for the class. Hesitant in choosing between Honors or AP Literature, I spoke with Dr. Burgess. When she told me the difference between the two levels, about two more books and essays per semester, I thought “Why not? Gaining an AP title for another essay sounds like a good deal to me.” I knew that my courses for senior year would be reading intensive with much independent work, which is exactly what I wanted, for college classes are mostly structured in this manner. I also knew that the nature of the three AP classes I wanted to take would allow me to manage them – not all APs are equal.
Junior year I took AP European History, which was one of the greatest classes I have taken at Hewitt (even though it was very work intensive). While I did not take AP Biology, Samantha Apfel `11 referred to it at “The Beast That is AP Bio,” to which Amanda Levit `11 and Alex Mitchell `11 nodded and exhibited signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is why talking to the veterans of classes (AP or not) is extremely important – they are your best source.
So now that you understand my rationale, I continue with my story. After I discussed it with my peers and my advisor, my conviction grew. I confidently believed that I could balance my classes, extracurriculars and (to borrow Samantha’s phrase) “The Beast” that is the college application process. I would sacrifice the three “S’s” to do so: Social life, Sleep and Sanity. I knew it would be okay because I could never express regret for doing too little when college decisions came around (side note: I never regretted doing “too much,” yet I did feel ridiculously stressed and a bit crazy; still, I never regretted it). So when I stepped over the threshold to Ms. Litt’s office and announced my decision, I was sure.
I asked Elizabeth Gjersvik `11, who also chose to break the “two AP maximum” rule, if she felt as frustrated as I did, and she did. We decided that if we overestimated ourselves in our course choices, we would learn from our mistakes. The primary frustration was that we felt as if the school was more afraid for us to do poorly than we were. While caution is necessary, perhaps we have been overly cautious in our treatment of APs. They are not as horrible as they are made out to be; they are totally manageable. And, if you do your work, you can do well.