Dear Juniors

I recently completed my POD, and I physically felt a weight leave my body the second the timer went off. I didn’t feel real for a moment; I was almost walking on air. This might sound dramatic, but I can promise you every Academic Magnet senior relates to this at least a tiny bit. Juniors, I will not lie, I truly believe AP research is the course that will test and push you the most out of your 4 years here.

I personally have been dreading the entire project since I learned about the class in my freshman year. I sincerely hated that we were forced to do it and thought I would have rather completed junior year 5 times in a row than have to even step foot into my first research class and begin a year long project.  Looking back now, I don’t know why I associated the class and assignment with such horror, but I do know that it was a lot better than I thought it would be, and I got so much out of it.

This is not 100% agreed upon, many raptors have an idea of their project year before the class, and even more seriously enjoy every step of the process. But do not stress, you may want to study something, you may want to study absolutely nothing, you may be currently sitting in guidance begging for them to make an exception and not make you take the class, and all of the above is 110% A-OKAY. I plead that you, unlike what I did, do not think and stress about it for a second over the summer.

I also think you need to know that AP research is a class that, if you manage your time wisely, can be almost entirely completed in class. For some reason I had this idea that it would be the most time-consuming class I ever took, but this is so far from the truth. Additionally, know that the teachers want to and will help you brainstorm. If creativity is not your strong suit, do not fret, eventually, you will find a way to develop a strong hypothesis and a testable method.

For the past two weeks, I have been ecstatic that I am officially done with AP research, but I have also been reflecting on the entire experience and have realized how much time I spent unnecessarily stressing. In the end, the paper, the research, the experiment, the presentation and the oral defense were so doable. I was more than prepared, and I promise all of you will be too.

However, most importantly, I learned that I am capable of completing a very hard assignment even when it feels impossible. This is something that will not fail and will serve each of us in the following period of our lives. We have just built our confidence in a way that will last forever, and for that reason, I am grateful and know that you will be too this time next year.