Why are we still in school?

With APs done and the school year virtually over, many seniors, juniors and even sophomores can’t help but wonder whether this time spent watching movies or playing video games  could have been spent more wisely. Wouldn’t the month or so following this dreaded two week period be better spent if it was prior to the exams?Sure, we’ve been starting earlier and earlier each year, but the truth of the matter is that this past month, for a sizable portion of Samo and students everywhere, should be used for AP prep, not as a time to wind down.I, just like every other student, love that I get to watch movies, play games, and just relax in a majority of my classes now that AP tests have passed. But I can’t help but wonder how that extra month may have impacted my score. Would I have procrastinated just as much to actually open that Barron’s book? Of course. But would my teachers have been rushed to cram in those last two chapters and then attempt to review at the same time all during these two weeks after spring break? Maybe not.In the last week before Jennifer Reynoso (‘15) took her AP Language and Composition exam, her class was flailing to cram in everything they hadn’t been able to cover. According to Reynoso, her teacher had frightened them all, saying that since they had run out of time, the class would just have to drown in information and hope that some of it stuck.“At that point, as someone who had never taken an AP before and mostly relied on the class for preparation, I was scared into shock,” Reynoso said. “How could I begin to feel confident about the 3 hour long test if I knew there were chunks of standards that I’d never really been introduced to?”There’s enough uncertainty in any of the AP exams drafted by the somewhat satanic Collegeboard; the gut wrenching terror in the face of severe under-preparation is simply unnecessary and can be avoided — let’s just start (and end) school earlier.It really is that simple; if we started school earlier, we would end right after AP testing and have almost an extra month to prepare and review in AP classes for those notorious tests. Yes, this would mean no wind down period in school directly after the 2 week period of hell, but it would also mean a direct transition into summer. Why not wind down the comfort of your own home?By around this time each year, AP enrolled or not, students get antsy. Call it Senioritis, call it Spring Fever--the fact of the matter is that this is the time of the year when absences rise and motivation falls. While most every student experiences that end of the year lag, this especially applies to those kids who feel like they are done with school since the largest hurdle — the AP test — has been crossed.According to Sameer Hirjee (‘15), who is taking AP Chemistry, AP United States History and AP Language and Composition, an earlier start would give him more confidence going into the test and would eliminate the awkward period of time in between the end of APs and the real end of the school year.Three weeks ago, I was in full AP-mode. Countless preparatory books, notes and hours were being devoted to getting the highest score possible. With both finals for my AP classes and the AP tests looming overhead, I was cramming to the fullest. My day consisted of AP review in class and out of class with the occasional guilty study break.But now, my life has done an academic 180. I’ve gone from the motivated hard-working student to the one who sleeps in every other day simply because I can. From prep books to Cards Against Humanity during class, I’m no longer geared towards anything. My only goal right now? Get to June 10th.Of course not every student is undergoing this bipolar version of school, but there are enough of us where this change would be beneficial.According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there were approximately 14.8 million high school students in America in the 2013-2014 school year. Of these 14.8 million students, the Collegeboard reports that over 2.1 million took at least one AP exam.This means that about 1 in every 7 students across the nation are taking AP exams. Ask any teacher and they’ll tell you that month more of studying would benefit students intellectually and emotionally. A little bit of a hassle when it comes to changing around finals schedules and dealing with one short summer is a small price to pay for a seventh of students to reap these benefits and 6/7ths of students to be generally unaffected.According to Brian Tickler, Advanced Placement United States History and Freshman Seminar teacher, the change all depends on the circumstance.“If, and this is a big if, all the logistics worked out to benefit AP students and not negatively affect all other students, [starting school earlier] would be a good idea,” Tickler said. “That extra few weeks would be helpful — I was even thinking about having a summer assignment like some other AP classes do to get a headstart.”APs are over. And to a lot of us, that means school is over. No real work, no huge consequences, and no real motivation after those dreaded tests. The tests were the sprint to the finish line, but now we’re expected to continue running?A few weeks before the AP test may not seem all that important, but it makes all the difference in review and preparation. Starting earlier and ending earlier is nothing but helpful to stressed out AP students and it’s a decision that could greatly benefit a large portion of our school. Let’s stop wasting the time we have on fluff projects and utilize it to fortify the base these AP students have been building all year.