Here at Staples High School, we students are given a fantastic education, that challenges us to work hard to be the best students that we can be. However, sometimes, I feel the challenge becomes more of a sick game or mental torture.
Fully preparing for an AP Government test is challenging, but when you have an AP Calculus, Honors Physics and AP Government test on the same day, it’s downright impossible.
Now, I know that teachers are just trying to keep up with their curricula, but it always seems that tests pop up on the same day — like there’s some sort of supernatural force that seems to get into the minds of teachers and makes them think, “Hey, I want to ruin some lives this week!”
Personally, I cannot study for more than three tests on one day. Once it reaches that threshold, I start to mix up the Democratic National Convention with rhetorical devices, and Latin vocab with calculus formulas.
At other schools, like Amity Regional High School, there is a three-test cap for students. The rule is upheld by students informing their teachers of other assessments they have on test days. While the rule does not apply to quizzes or minor assessments (a student can have three tests and one quiz on the same day), the rule does provide protection against having too many tests on a single day.
The realization I came to is, although Amity does have a strategy to relieve stress, if that system were in place at Staples, it would be very difficult to enforce.
Ultimately, I think the saddest part of this whole situation is that there really isn’t any hope for changing this problem given Staples’ current day-to-day schedule.
For now, I guess we’re going to have to continue hoping that our teachers don’t assign tests all on the same day and just be content with the high level of stress that comes with the competitive learning environment of Staples.
