The Disastrous Reality of a Sedulous Student

Fruita Monument High School is considered to be the “AP School” of the valley due to the abundance of AP courses a student here can take during their high school career. AP classes can be terribly beneficial to one’s GPA as well as their chances of getting into college. Don’t forget to mention the thousands of dollars one could save by passing the end of year exam given by the College Board. But is taking all these rigorous courses worth sacrificing one’s mental health and/or risking all your free time by overloading your everyday schedule?

There’s no simple answer. As someone who is constantly worrying about the future, such as my goals, what college I’m going to get into, what job I’m going to get, etc., I believe taking these classes will be beneficial to my future self. However, my present self is burdened with the amount of work I have to endure almost every night. My mental health crumbles to the thought of even taking the end of year test for fear that I’ll waste a hundred bucks on something I’m terrified to fail. 

This year I have the most AP classes that I’ve taken throughout high school.  AP Art History, AP United States History and AP English Language. My other two years of high school, I have only taken one AP class per year, and that was more than enough work that I had to endure. Now that I’ve taken three of these classes (plus all the work I have to do from my other challenging classes), it’s a whole new game. I spend roughly an hour on homework almost every night depending on the assignment. If one does not like taking large amounts of notes and trying to memorize extensive information, then these classes are not for the faint of heart. 

According to the article “Advanced Pressure: The Dangers of Educationally Influenced Mental Illness” written by Laura Gilman, “This, in return, places superfluous amounts of stress, which, without proper resources (accessibility to psychotherapy and knowledge on managing stress), subsequently results in mental illnesses.” She refers to the fact that someone who may indulge in a large amount, or just one, AP class may find their mental health could deteriorate without the right resources available. As someone who is both diagnosed with anxiety and depression, AP classes are no help in the category of teenager’s mental health. It baffles me to see someone fill their schedule with only AP classes because I know for a fact my own well-being should not be risked for some class. While I believe education is tremendously important to the future of our generation, too much stress from this education system can be more harmful than good. 

Abby Price who took AP Human Geography in her freshman stated, “I was extremely stressed and had no time for resting or having fun. Looking back on it, I’m glad I took the class, but I wouldn’t take it again because of the negative effect it had on my personal life.”

Price did tremendously well on the AP exam, scoring a 5 on it. Nevertheless, her mental health suffered greatly at the cost of doing well.

Now, this still begs the question. Should someone take more than one AP class? Well, that depends on you as a person. If someone is willing to put the effort and time into a class that might have their social life sacrificed, then be my guest. Or, if you’re someone like me who has a lot of free time, this may occupy your time fairly well. While I do stress from these classes in my everyday life, there are coping mechanisms I have learned to develop. I like to break up the work evenly and try to stay motivated by telling myself I get to have free time after I complete this assignment. Or I just simply take breaks in between homework to clear my mind and tell myself that it’ll be okay.

I don’t regret taking these classes because I enjoy the content I’m learning. However, the amount of work may seem appalling to some and can create a strain on your mind. If you learn to balance the work and find healthy coping mechanisms while being in these classes, not only will you get a better grade, it’ll help you be successful in your near future.