Status: Updating Frequently
The Journal of a Simply Done Senior
Regents vs. Honors
Like in most American schools there is a division in the level of classes at my school. Regents the lowest, honors the highest or the middle (depending on what grade you are in), and AP classes which are the hardest of the three. Most students tend to take all of their classes at one of these levels. Occasionally honors and AP will mix because there is only a certain amount of APs you are allowed to take at. And there are people who have a fair mix of regents and honors classes. There are many stereotypes associated with each of these groups. The regents kids are lazy and not motivated, they are the people who will drop out of college and work in McDonalds for their whole life. The honors and APs kids are stuck up, pretentious, and come from the upper middle class families.
A lot of times many people think that this is true. I highly disagree. While the honors and APs students are more likely to go to better schools and a lot of them are fairly motivated, they are also some of the laziest students in the schools. Their parents who are professors on the nearby Ivy League college, Cornell, push them to take these upper level courses. Their children, on the other hand, don’t want to take these highly academic classes and would be more suited for the regents level. Meanwhile, there are regents kids who are fighting hard to make it into honors classes, but can’t because the school won’t let them. They might have done badly on only one standardized test and now they can’t move out of the low level classes.
But of course like with every other stereotype there are people who fit perfectly into the categories that I described above. And they are the ones who are the loudest and the most well known. Which is of course why these stereotypes exist. They are also the reason that I hate taking some regents classes and honors classes. In the regents they just don’t care and they make everyone aware of it. Those people make the whole class miserable for everyone. Meanwhile, in the honors classes you have the know-it-alls who won’t ever shut up about everything they know. They argue with the teacher about every little fact.
High school classes can be either very interesting or extremely boring and agitating. It is sad just how much this depends on what level class you are taking or who you are taking the classes with. There is so many people I know who are smart and eager to acquire knowledge, but hate school because of the people they take classes with. Of course there are times when the reason for the students boredom is the subject or the teacher. But still to me it is alarming and appalling exactly how many people really hate school just because of the everyday people that they have to deal with in classes.
A lot of times many people think that this is true. I highly disagree. While the honors and APs students are more likely to go to better schools and a lot of them are fairly motivated, they are also some of the laziest students in the schools. Their parents who are professors on the nearby Ivy League college, Cornell, push them to take these upper level courses. Their children, on the other hand, don’t want to take these highly academic classes and would be more suited for the regents level. Meanwhile, there are regents kids who are fighting hard to make it into honors classes, but can’t because the school won’t let them. They might have done badly on only one standardized test and now they can’t move out of the low level classes.
But of course like with every other stereotype there are people who fit perfectly into the categories that I described above. And they are the ones who are the loudest and the most well known. Which is of course why these stereotypes exist. They are also the reason that I hate taking some regents classes and honors classes. In the regents they just don’t care and they make everyone aware of it. Those people make the whole class miserable for everyone. Meanwhile, in the honors classes you have the know-it-alls who won’t ever shut up about everything they know. They argue with the teacher about every little fact.
High school classes can be either very interesting or extremely boring and agitating. It is sad just how much this depends on what level class you are taking or who you are taking the classes with. There is so many people I know who are smart and eager to acquire knowledge, but hate school because of the people they take classes with. Of course there are times when the reason for the students boredom is the subject or the teacher. But still to me it is alarming and appalling exactly how many people really hate school just because of the everyday people that they have to deal with in classes.