Walking into LHS this week has seemed different. Not a bad different, but a different that seems shockingly calm. LHS students have finally been freed from their chains and now can return from hell. Why, you may ask? AP Tests are finally OVER (all except Human Geo, Microeconomics, European History and Latin, whose tests are Friday, May 12).

This is a day we’ve all been waiting for. All of the nights we stayed up finishing those time-consuming notes and homework that all of our AP classes never failed to forget, are finally over. The countless hours we spent studying before the dreaded AP tests are finally worth something more than a waste of our precious time. Our hard work payed off, and now we can sit back and relax. Well, not exactly.

Because of the change in the Sioux Falls Public School system’s schedule, AP classes were affected. Although the start and end date for school changed, the national test date for AP classes did not. Everything you’d expect from this adversity had an affect on how the content of how these classes was taught. Trying to squeeze all of the content into our limited schedule was like trying on your favorite pair of jeans from two years ago; tight and a struggle to fit everything in. This obviously led to more homework given out, which led to more stress for students. But because the AP tests are done, doesn’t that mean all of our homework and lectures are over? The answer to this question is yes for the lucky students of the AP teachers that aren’t inhabiting more terror in our lives, and no for the ones that didn’t think the whole year’s worth was enough.

Many classes like AP U.S. History and AP Language and Composition are continuing to have assignments like reading a moderately sized book and writing a research essay. I am not complaining that many of the classes still have work to do, but maybe the teachers could ease off a bit with the amount of work we will have to do. In AP Environmental Science, we have resorted to assignments that are not as stressful. The last couple weeks of class will be consisted of making a solar powered grill and competing to see who will make the best food. More classes should try and incorporate activities like these which will actually make students want to come and finish out the year. We spent all year working extremely hard around the limited schedule, and I think we deserve some work that is not nearly as time consuming.