As mid-May approaches with AP exams, students rush and cram to finish studying the final subject matter to get the highest score possible.

Of course, one would expect not to have to worry about stressing over the class academically-wise after the long and arduous exam. However, this is usually not the case. Class finals during the second semester in AP classes do exist, and are actually scheduled about a month after the infamous AP exams.

Students are expected to continue studying even after the exams. The purpose of taking an AP class is so that it prepares and teaches the material to students in order to prepare them for the exam in May.

But having to face finals afterwards defeats the whole purpose of taking these AP classes. Why take an exam in June when the one you take in May determines whether you have mastery of the subject? For the following month, students can be involved in more creative projects that don’t require as much rigorous studying as exams and finals do. Furthermore, students can also be engaged in debates and projects that can increase their knowledge in the subject in a more enjoyable way. Students can also write book reports and watch educational documentaries, while at the same time further deepening their knowledge in the subjects at hand without the pressure of doing well on a final test.

Students that take the finals may be studying things that will not necessarily increase their knowledge on the subject since they have already studied them. Therefore, there isn’t much left to cover once June comes around. Teachers may complain by saying that students will get lazy and won’t work unless they have an exam to study for, but that is not necessarily true. If students stop doing work in class, it will definitely affect their grade and consequently their GPA. Besides, students are more focused when they know that their grade can be affected by the current assignments that the teachers issue at the end of the month.

The month or so after the AP exams is perhaps the only time that students can actually start learning for the sake of learning and not for the sake of doing well on an exam. It’s the time for students to enjoy the subjects they are being taught.