by Mahek Khetani | Staff Writer
Taking as many advanced classes as possible, as well as band and other extra curriculars, students such as sophomore Veronica Herrera are already bombarded with end of the year stress, yet limits are still being tested due to the backbreaking projects being assigned to almost all Johnson students.
“One of the things we’re doing is putting together a poetry portfolio in English. Every week we’ve been writing a poem that resembles the structure and topics of famous poems, that still correlate with the theme of To Kill a Mockingbird, which is definitely easier said than done. Then we add them to our portfolios to turn in for a final exam grade and the whole thing is a very strenuous process,” said Herrera.
Well, there’s nothing better than trying to poetically convey racial inequality when your first AP exam is in one week, right? It’s not as if students are unable to do these assignments, but rather that the priorities are adding up, and fast.
“In Geometry we’re making a kite out of straws and tissue paper, and it’s supposed to form a complicated geometric shape that can actually fly. And even though we have a lot of class time for it, it stresses me out so much because I have priorities in classes where I’m trying to get my grade up, along with learning new notes for Orchestra and it’s all making the end of the year very dreadful,” said sophomore Lauren Holzmann.
It’s this time of the year where high schoolers suddenly regret not savoring our awkward middle school years, because even though we dressed like 2004 Kristen Stewart and had a great collection of acne, the end of the year was bliss.
“This is my first year in high school, and my friends were not kidding about how crazy the end of the year would be. I’m doing projects in English, Spanish, and dance and it makes me want
to go back to eighth grade because I honestly was not prepared for this,” said freshman Jenna Vandzura.
And she has no idea what’s in store for the next three years…but we can’t blame her- even our students who are accustomed to rigorous amounts of work are breathing under water.
“In GT English II we are going to teach a fourth grade class at Cibolo Green. We were put into groups, and each group will teach a different subject or lesson. We’ve been preparing in class and we’ll go to the elementary school on May 21. It’s definitely adding to the pressure and I’m not handling it well,” said sophomore Amy Boenig with a laugh.
But if you really wanna feel the heat, get in the AP Chem lab. Junior Rambod Aznavoleh explains how his final project seems to be reminiscent of a Bill Nye meeting Walter White scenario.
“You choose a chemical that you wanna synthesize and prepare a safety protocol procedure. Beforehand you take a safety course from a PHLN (Public Health Laboratory Network) where you get all the chemicals, and then you synthesize and analyze the chemical with or without a partner. Over the course of two to three weeks, you write an essay about it and it’s a major grade. It’s gonna count as two test grades and two lab grades,” said Aznavoleh.
