Students should push selves, know limits
To take or not take certain levels of classes in high school?
As a sophomore, I was eligible to take AP Biology for my grades and efforts in Honors Integrated Science with Lab. When the class was no longer open to sophomores, I took Honors Biology as the subject is my school’s required science credit.
With other honors classes, a dual-enrollment class, active memberships, and leadership roles in four clubs and a sport, I realized it was impossible to commit to taking it. I understand I’m not required to do all this. Still, I want to challenge myself by learning new things and participating in extracurricular activities.
I felt overwhelmed. It may be because the class was genuinely challenging. Yet, I knew that if I dropped down to level 1, I’d feel “dumb” as I’d only ever taken higher-level classes.
According to the National Institutes of Health, school, family, and society can cause academic pressure in teenagers. Studies have shown that teachers and parents of teenagers with good academic performance often have greater learning expectations of them, increasing the pressure students feel to maintain their performance.
My school offers Advanced Placement® and dual-enrollment classes. The College Board, a not-for-profit organization, created the AP program to provide high schoolers with college-level courses. Per their 2021 report, nearly 23,000 high schools offer at least one AP course. About 35% of the class of 2021 high school graduates took at least one AP course. Some schools, like mine, give students the choice to take the AP exam for the possibility of college credit. On the other hand, dual-enrollment classes are collegelevel courses but offer credit based on the grade in the class. In addition to the potential of earning college credit, these classes can help raise your GPA.
A common theme here is colleges.
While these are good reasons to enroll in these classes, many students often worry about getting into the college of their choice. A survey by the Stanford affiliate Challenge Success found that this amounts to two-thirds of 43,000. over 28,600, high school participants. A 2019 review study done by Taylor and Francis, one of the world’s leading academic publishers, found that academic pressure is associated with mental health symptoms such as anxiety, depersonalization, and depression.
I know your parents or teachers can make you feel that you must take a certain level of classes, but is it worth it? It’s ridiculous how we focus so much on almost everyone else’s opinion, except for yours, of what you should take. Given this, I’m not saying you should not take higher-level classes; they can help you grow as a student.
Like many others, your high school has graduation requirements, such as taking four years of English. While you have little to no choice in what classes you take to fulfill graduation requirements, you most likely can choose the level you take it at. Consider your responsibilities from extracurricular activities, a job, sports, etc. Taking on too much can easily translate into unhealthy amounts of stress for prolonged periods.
When taking a class outside of graduation requirements, you might find yourself conflicted with choosing a class you are interested in, which may be of a lower level, versus taking a class for the sole reason of it being of a higher level. I’d take the class that interests me. For instance, I could have taken an honors computer science class, but I instead chose Marketing I, which is unleveled. I love the class.
As your fellow high schooler, I want you to push yourself but remember to know your limits.