Though most students are approximately three weeks away from summer break, many must still suffer the wrath of Advanced Placement exams, their last major hurdle of the school year.
The most challenging aspect of AP season is not the exams themselves, but rather the hours of intense studying in preparation for the exam. “I had to take four AP exams this year,” Junior Ammar Bazaraa said. “The amount of studying I had to do was really stressful.”As a result, the yearly exams bring with it countless stories of students in distress whose overwhelming sense of burden gives way for cheating.
To other students, the challenge lies even deeper, often stemming from their veiled sense of intellectual insecurity, driven by a lack of conceptual understanding. When they lack confidence in themselves, societal and familial pressures force them to do whatever it takes to get an acceptable grade.
The most memorable moment of the testing season originates in PVHS’s gymnasium. As was the case for any other exam, AP U.S. History students sat on their squeaky black chairs, anxiously awaiting the tests commencement. Then, under the watchful eye of the proctors, the exam began without any troubles or inconveniences. Shortly thereafter, the mishaps began.
Proctors and students alike noticed a stream of stifled chatter; it took proctors several tries to restore the silence. Then, as the test loomed longer, a student inevitably requested to use the bathroom – then another. Groups of students eventually congregated outside the testing room while the test was ongoing. Proctors eventually took notice of the concerningly large number of students whose urge to bathroom was apparently unrestrainable and ordered them to return to the testing room.
Several minutes passed, and the students reached the ten-minute break that divides almost every exam. It is an AP exam ritual for students to naturally discuss the test during this time, despite all rules banning such behavior. What is not a ritual, however, is accessing review materials and electronic devices during the break – both of which transpired in the ten minutes.
Had the proctor not intervened, the student’s ten minute break would have become a last-minute review session ahead of the FRQ portion of the test. As for the electronics, it was most likely a force of habit.
“I don’t think anyone was trying to cheat,” said sophomore Luca Botarelli, an APUSH student who bore witness to these shenanigans. “I think people are just used to taking out their phones during breaks, or maybe they just weren’t aware of the rules. I highly doubt anyone was actively trying to cheat.”
The story may have ended there, but the repercussions of the events rippled through the halls of Pleasant Valley in the days that followed. An email was sent to all APUSH parents and students, expressing deep dismay for the behavior that ensued that morning.
“Everyone was talking about it,” Botarrelli said. “It was apparently a huge deal because nothing like this had happened during an AP exam recently.”
Though the consequences remain unsettled, it is clear that academic dishonesty is at an all time high. The digital world, paired with societal pressures often push students to their limit, draining them of their critical thinking and sense of confidence; it is, therefore, important to understand why education exists in the first place.
