As Freedom’s juniors come to the conclusion of their arguably most grueling year of high school, it’s already time to start thinking of next school year. The 2024-2025 school year for juniors is a big one as it’s their last year of high school.
So as this year comes to an end, students are beginning to finalize their classes for next year. Amongst juniors there is the debate of whether they should lay off the difficult classes senior year or push through for just one more year.
“I’m going to be taking four APs plus a DE in senior year.” said junior Carrieann Kerolos.
For some juniors, their senior year is essentially the same as their junior year. Considering that FHS doesn’t offer the ability for students to take multiple AP’s until junior and senior year, students may feel the need to take as many as they can in those two years.
“I almost feel like I have to cram as many AP’s in two years as I can,” Kerolos said.
According to a blog posted by College Board, over one million freshmen and sophomores took part in taking an AP class. However, at FHS there are just about no APs available to freshmen and as a sophomore the most widely available one is AP World History. Although AP Biology is available to sophomores as well if they choose to take chemistry alongside it, which is not a very popular choice among students. In addition, there have been few sophomores who have taken AP Calculus AB, yet this is very uncommon. These limited APs in students’ first two years of high school can lead to a packed schedule for students in their last two years.
With these full schedules, people are left to wonder what students will do to maintain focus and determination.
“I’ve been able to find new ways to study and learn what’s best for me,” said junior Rebecca Laub.
Students having efficient ways of studying can make or break how they do throughout school and if they ever become burned out. There is the common phrase of “senioritis” that students, specifically seniors may feel. This is a feeling of being worn out and drained. After four years of school, and especially after seniors get their college acceptance letters, they can’t wait to graduate and be done with high school. Although this feeling is not something that just seniors feel.
“I know I’m going to have senioritis next year as I feel like I already have it,” Kerolos said.
People say that junior year can be the most challenging year for students, so it can be normal that students feel tired of school and school work. With this, “senioritis” is not something that all seniors feel.
“I was definitely ready to graduate leading into my senior year, but I didn’t have senioritis,” said senior Kayla Waterfield. “My classes were very easy this year.”
While some students feel the need to complete all the APs they can in their senior year, other students feel that it’s important to take it easy in their last year of high school.
“ I feel that students should take easier classes their senior year because colleges don’t look as in-depth to senior year compared to other years like junior year,” Waterfield said.
According to the College Board, junior year is the most looked at and overriding school year for students. This is why so many students choose to take the easy road and chill senior year instead of having a second junior year.
