Look out! Testy times ahead
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Monday, May 5, 2008
By NOELLE JOHANSEN
TX. Correspondent
Palms sweat and breathing quickens as feet shuffle into the designated testing area. Minds race feverishly, trying to remember key information that was or wasn't studied for the duration of the preceding year.
What causes such anxious, even desperate reactions? It is the event that haunts the last months of many students' high school years: Advanced Placement testing.
More commonly known as AP tests, these objects of menacing difficulty come in many forms during the month of May. Courses like AP physics, statistics, American history and government (class names often vary by school), among others, all result in a matching test at the end of the year. That is, if the student participating so chooses to pay the $84 test cost.
With a mixture of multiple choice, free response and essay questions, these AP tests are reasonably vigorous, in that scoring a 3 or higher on a scale from 1 to 5 can result in earning college credits.
What preparations must be made, what precautions taken? Some students aren't worried about either.
"I'm not studying until the night before," said Roy High senior Brad Benson of his AP government test.
Others choose not to procrastinate. Matthew Walker, a Syracuse High junior, chooses to prepare for his AP calculus test.
"I'm taking mock AP tests to brush up on my skills and to practice what I need to work on," he said.
Haleigh VanEerden, a junior at Roy, favors the same approach and finds assistance in "reviews every morning, and putting aside time every night to study."
Brain games
For some, getting ready for the test is more of a mental approach.
"I'm trying to stay relaxed and not stress myself out because I know if I stress out I won't be able to concentrate," said Kate Durham, a junior at Syracuse High.
While some are having this experience for the first time, there are AP veteran students as well. When Roy High senior Brenden Pearson took AP U.S. history last year, he found help in making flash cards out of all of his notes.
Logan McWilliams, a Roy junior, did the opposite: "I didn't do anything out of the ordinary."
Even reviewing all year long can still result in panicking as the test date looms. Certain sections of the test scare certain students.
VanEerden is nervous for "the essays for AP U.S. history, because you have to use a lot of outside information, which is a lot harder for me than multiple-choice problems."
Durham feels the same, and is afraid that the essays will be on unknown topics and she'll be reduced to making things up.
However, Pearson disagrees. He says he is most nervous for multiple- choice questions and feels that "essays are easy."
Pressure builds
Walker doesn't feel much pressure from any of the material on his AP calculus test; he is only worried about, "The fact that it's timed. That's the only part that scares me, really."
McWilliams is concerned about one thing for his tests: "Passing all of them with a 5!"
With skyrocketing levels of stress and frenzied last-minute study sessions, it's a wonder that students continue to take these AP classes. Why exactly, then, do they follow through on them?
Syracuse junior Paul Hill said he studies AP calculus and American history "so I don't have to take the classes in college."
Aside from the possibility of being awarded with college hours for passing the tests, is there any other sort of reward for toughing it throughout the year?
Hill believes the relief after finishing the test will be immense -- "like I just had 50 pounds of bricks lifted off my back!"
TX. correspondents Lindsey Larson and Cheri Peacock, of Roy High, contributed to this story.
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Noelle Johansen is a junior at Syracuse High School. She enjoys good books, good music and intergalactic space adventures. E-mail her at curly_gurly89@hotmail.com.
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