Study groups aid in AP success

Tests, projects, and study groups, oh my! Advanced Placement students know these events all too, especially all the stress that comes with them too. Practically every week there’s either a test or a project for each and every AP student, whether it’s in calculus, chemistry, or an English class. With the nearly constant tests there are always study groups for some AP class spread throughout the city of Monroe.

On the eve of every AP chemistry test, Panera gets swamped with a great mass of stressed students all praying for a mystical curve to save them. The same happens at the Taco Bell on LaPlaisance road the night before any AP calculus test, either with AB or BC students; sometimes even both masses of students at one time. No matter where the study group is held, nor for what subject, the students go to the restaurants demanding food from the workers and answers from their teachers.

Typically at these anxious meetings, there are many lightbulbs that go off in people’s heads combined with various revelations that help the majority of the students. By the end of the session, students often feel more prepared about the content on the test but are just as nervous as when they walked in, if not even more nervous than before.

The next day, students walk into class, fearing that this test will be the hardest one they ever have, and will ever take, no matter how confident they are in the material. Once the bell rings true panic sets in and every AP student is on edge, scared that they’ll know absolutely nothing on the test, including the question “name” followed by a blank line.

Once all is said and done, the study group and test pass, turning into a simple grade in the gradebook, which, in reality, isn’t going to drastically alter your following academic career and entire life as a whole.