Quality over punctuality

We’ve all heard it before: the AP nightmare. It’s getting close to midnight on a Wednesday night when it all dawns on you. You have pushed aside your mountain of homework until this moment, and it seems as though you’re at a point of no return.But wait! You remember that your English teacher promised that if you emailed her at least 48 hours before the due date, you can turn in your assignment at a later date. This is a life saver, and a sleep saver for you. The fact that you were able to get an extension on the due date for this paper lets you finish your other work for the night, and lets you live a balanced life. For many AP English teachers at Samo, this idea of quality over punctuality is how they structure their classes, and I for one believe that it is an extremely important and essential idea to the success of their students.As a junior in Advanced Placement (AP) Language and Composition with Jennifer Pust, I was told from the get-go that the main priority of this course is to become a better writer, and if that means asking for an extension to produce the best work you can, so be it. Pust believes that the extension policy not only benefits the students, but keeps the class organized by letting the students develop their ideas on their own schedule.“Part of the reason I offer an extension policy is to get students used to the idea of office hours and asking their instructors for help,” Pust said. “In college, I found it to be a critical skill: I met with professors and asked questions about the readings, and then had no problem going in and asking for extensions of deadlines when I became overwhelmed.”The way I see it, I am expected to actually put work into the papers that I produce and turn in, not just vomit words onto a page so that I can have something tangible to turn in “on time.” This concept works for me on many different levels. For one, it gives me a sense of independence which makes me feel like I am doing this work not for the school system or my parents, but for myself. It lets me take matters into my own hands, and gives me the opportunity to organize my workload in a more efficient way than having a panic attack and crying into the arms of my worried mother.According to Pust, the work-load handed to students by AP teachers is sometimes not consistent with the number of hours students have outside of class to complete the assignment.“The other piece I recognize is that high school AP classes in some ways demand more of students than the comparable college courses, because in college, students have roughly three hours a week of class time per course, and ample free time to complete papers independently,” Pust said.At this point in our lives, we are held to a higher educational standard, meaning that punctuality, while still important, is not our first priority. With such a difficult and complex class like AP Language and Composition, it’s important to note that it may take some students longer than others to perfect an asignment. In that case, an extension is not only a good idea, but essential to the success of that student and his or her exploration of the writing process.Some may look at this extension policy and say, “knowing high schoolers, they’ll just abuse it and procrastinate.” However, this disregards the fact that AP students have already chosen to be ambitious by taking a rigorous course, meaning that they plan to succeed. If that success means offering extensions for when the workload gets overwhelming, there should be no debate.My argument is based more on the fight for an extension policy on long term assignments rather than for daily assignments. If a student asks for an extension on an assignment due the next day that focuses on a lesson they learned in class that day, they will fall behind as the concepts continue to build upon each other.I focus mainly on long-term assignments because within the outlines of a long-term assignment, there are usually checkpoints that a student must meet: a first draft, a second draft and a final draft. It may only take me two days to write the first draft of my paper, but the person sitting next to me may need a week or even more to draft his or her paper to the best of his or her abilities. The fact of the matter is, the rate at which we absorb different concepts and create our best work is different for each individual. It’s a fact of humanity that cannot be controlled, but by allowing extensions, we are securing the crucial idea that not all students are going to thrive in the confines of a deadline.America’s educational system currently seems to assume that all students can thrive if they are determined and if they “push themselves hard enough.” But that same system also neglects the fact that human brains are different from one another in how they attain information. For example, in our college acceptance process, we judge students based off of their scores on one of two standardized tests, oversimplifying the numerous ways someone may learn. In terms of the smaller scope of Samo, my GPA is based off of an oversimplified version of how one student works in regards to time.My GPA shouldn’t be determined by when I turn in an assignment, but rather the quality of the work itself. To allow extensions is a step in making this theory a reality, and Samo’s implementing a secure extension policy can allow more students to reach their full academic potential.bross@thesamohi.com