Advanced Placement (AP) classes allow high school students to learn college-level material and earn college credit if they pass the end-of-the-year exam. To give La Sierra students an inside perspective of how AP classes operate, Vice Principal Daniel Sage and Larissa Mireles organized AP Tryout Week from April 24-28 2023 to prepare students for next year.

Junior Alexa Lamas plans on taking AP Psychology in her senior year, and observed their review for the upcoming AP exam. 

“I thought it was really interesting how the class was in the review. They participated really well and…they answered like a group in a way, and they solved the problems together. I overall found it pretty cool how they were working together.”

Similarly, junior Aiden De Los Reyes noted the positive atmosphere of AP Psychology. 

“Most of the students are talkative and cooperative and the teacher’s great as well. He’s fantastic.” 

Reyes further explained his reasons for taking this class next year. 

“I signed up because AP Psychology itself is just fantastic, [it] just lights a spark in me.”

On the other hand, sophomore Mia Carrera’s experience in AP Environmental Science was more overwhelming. 

“The second I got into the class, Ms. Wilbur gave me a mock up test for the AP test that they’re going to be taking. It’s from 2021 and just looking through it, it seemed kinda scary ‘cause like there’s a lot of things on there.”

Sophomore C. Everett Henry also adds his thoughts on the extra studying AP classes require.

 “There’s always hesitation about taking any AP class. It will be harder and there will be more work, even summer work…[But] it made me want to join it more.”

Carrera, however, is still optimistic for her classes next year.

 “For APES (AP Environmental Science), I’m looking forward to all of the experiments that they do because I heard that they have a lot of experiments. For Lang (AP Language Composition), I’m looking forward to analyzing text and going more in depth with the work.”

Likewise, sophomore Nyomie Barcenas expresses her excitement about AP Language as it ties in with her ideal future career. 

“I’m looking forward to making a lot of stories, [to] see how much I can improve…I’ve been dying to be an author in the future and making my own books. So, I say hopefully it can help me with my writing and also typing skills.”

Overall, Barcenas views taking any AP class as a positive experience that every high schooler should take. 

“I say that it’s way better to experience something that you haven’t done before, and also, it kind of gets you out of your comfort zone. Everyone in school needs to get out of their comfort zone.”