Students start thinking about the future and grooming for college during freshman year.  Many students also get jobs, many have  relationships, and most try to engage in some activities– sports, clubs, Variety Show, and many more–that can make the experience more enjoyable.  Some students make the choice to take it a step further by enrolling in highly regarded AP classes. But how much more stress do those classes really add to one’s life, and, if it does, how do they manage to pull it off?

     According to a survey of 80 LHS AP students, only around 25 percent got more than seven hours of sleep per night, which is still less than the recommended eight hours for teenagers. This isn’t surprising. Seventy  percent of students surveyed had more than three hours of homework per night, which may not seem like that much, but it adds up quickly.  Nearly 95 percent of these students were involved in some form of extracurricular activity, and just over 66 percent play a sport. When AP study is  combined with the hours spent on activities, sports, jobs, relationships, and family time, there’s little time for anything else. So how do they do it?

    “I play a sport and I’m in a bunch of clubs so I kind of just make it work,” said  Junior Alexa Labossiere.  “My sleep is kind of impaired, and there will also be some times where people will be like ‘Hey, do you want to go out?’ and I’ll have to say no, I have homework.” Friends and fellow AP students Cas Cosme, Julia Heroux, and Natalie Westrick nodded in agreement as Labossiere said that she guesses “it’s more social activities” that she has to miss out on because of school work. As a member of the varsity field hockey team, she has a two hour practice nearly every day after school, usually not starting her homework until 6 or 7 (sometimes not until 9 if she has a game), “Which can get a little rough,” she said, adding that on those nights she won’t be able to get to bed until 11 or 12.

    Juniors and seniors aren’t the only ones who take AP classes anymore.  Since fall 2014, freshmen have had the opportunity to take AP Human Geography instead of Early World History, and since fall 2015, sophomores have had the opportunity to take AP World History instead of World or US history.

    Elise Delaney, a freshman enrolled in AP Human Geography, said that she’s glad she wound up taking the advanced level course. “It definitely threw me into a lot of work,” she said, “but I’ve been trying my best to manage, and I think I’m doing well with it.” She also feels that it will help her in the long run, saying that “the class is going to be a challenge for me but I think it’s going to give me a lot of experience and adjust me to the workload for high school.”

    Many of these students chose to take these advanced level classes without pressure from their parents or guidance counselors. In fact, several said that their parents were concerned about the stress accelerated studies may cause.  Junior Julia Heroux said that her parents were among them. “They let me pick my own classes,” she said,  “they don’t force me to take anything I don’t want to take, but they still worry. Especially with sports and cross country and track and everything…they don’t want me to break and go over the deep end.”

    Despite all of the extra stresses that are put upon them in these classes, a resounding 96 percent of LHS AP students felt that they were gaining something from it. Sixty-two percent said that they were gaining some sort of collegiate benefit-either experience or credit, or both. A sizable number (around 35 percent), however, said that they were taking these classes to gain knowledge of a subject that they enjoy. Jakob Morris (who’s taking four AP courses this year) said that he takes them because, “I’m trying to narrow down my interests, but also for college.”

    These students have a lot on their plates, but still manage to make it work. So what advice do they have for students who will take APs in the future, or who are in them now?

    Junior Natalie Westrick advises,  “Take naps.” She explained that the little extra bit of sleep will help you focus, and have energy to get everything done. But it can still be difficult to find the motivation to do the work, and often you’ll hear people complaining about it.

    “You’ve got to learn to focus less on complaining about how much you have to do and just do it,” says Morris, “Once it’s over, you’ll reap the benefits.”