Taking honors and AP courses should come with a warning: “Caution: May cause high anxiety, sleep deprivation, irritation, frustration and a lack of desire to complete assignments.”

Now, that’s not to say that students that are not in AP and Honors courses do not struggle with the same things, but there is a certain level of stress that comes with the enrollment.  As an AP student, myself, I can attest to the fact that some nights, I’m up until early in the morning finishing homework I started when I got home from school.

When you become an honors student, there’s a level of expectation that comes from your peers, your teachers and your parents.  We are expected to get straight A’s.  We are expected to always have the answer, to turn our work in on time, to produce exemplary assignments and to be successful in life as well.

There comes a time in every honors student’s life when they want to give up.  The work overload is so intimidating and daunting that the idea of completing it is one that instantly stresses a student out.  To not finish it means more homework will pile up.  To finish it means exhaustion, frustration and stress.

The most important thing an AP student remembers is to maintain appearances.  This means to not admit to having any issues with workload, stress or any other issue.  This outline of the “perfect” student is one too many honors students try to fill.  Unfortunately, it is an impossible task.

Yes, honors and AP courses benefit students and teach them life lessons about time and stress management, but they also break down those students with stress, anxiety and depression.