As high schoolers, we look to our future and plan as we grow, trying to find our place in this big world. Many high school students take college courses in the pursuit of a good college position, but, is it really in students’ best interest to take college classes early?

Schools tend to place a lot of stress on teenagers throughout high school. Now, they add more to their work load by introducing harder classes meant for adults. A junior might be taking five Advanced Placement (AP) classes. This would mean having to go to the “college level courses” each twice a week, which would be 10 scholarly lectures attempting to push you forward.

Furthermore, we lose time for ourselves amidst it all. “There are students [who] feel a lot of pressure [from] all these advanced level classes… every moment seems to be focused on academics, mak[ing] it harder to do extracurricular and social things,” Pediatric Psychologist Dr. Vanessa Jensen said. Time that would’ve been spent going to school clubs, hanging out with friends, or playing a sport is reduced or no longer available for some students. I’ve heard of students who take difficult or time-consuming APs like AP Chemistry whose study hall is typically always filled with doing work while most peers goof off. “My study halls are never free [due to my AP work],”  junior Alexandra Storbin said.

The stress placed on high school students is high. As we’re developing and going through hormonal changes, I think we should be able to actually get the room to breathe. College has its time; we needn’t rush ourselves, warranting unwanted pressure.