DOUBLE TROUBLE!

Advanced classes are part of the norm for some. How does this effect kids?

Kids are smart, like really smart. In this day and age, they’re even smarter. There are 9th graders everywhere in the school, from Algebra I to AP Calc BC, Spanish/French I to Spanish/ French III classes, and, more recently, even up to Chemistry classes. How did they get there? For Spanish and French, it’s pretty simple, they are native speakers. For Algebra II, they just took a test to skip a course. However, to be in Chemistry as a 9th grader, that requires time and effort.

First off, you can only be in Chemistry as a 9th grader if you doubled up on science as an 8th grader and a 9th grader, and it means you were already advanced in math in the first place. Veni Kotev, 26’ is currently in Biology and Chemistry Honors, and is thriving in both courses, but not without effort.

Kotev said, “The courses were meant for an older age group, and me taking them certainly did exert a certain amount of extra stress on my health and well-being.” Kai Merrill, 25’ has already doubled up on Biology and Chemistry, and is taking AP Physics as a 10th grader.

“I enjoyed [Biology and Chemistry] and I had fun with it, but if you do want to double up, I would suggest doing it in a class you enjoy.” Merrill said. This group of people that have doubled up twice is extremely small, however, many people have dou - bled up at least once, whether in 8th grade or 9th.

People double up once for all sorts of reasons. Some people may find science 8 or Earth-Space science easy. Some find it fun. Some may even do it just because it feels like a norm at this point.

“[When] I doubled up in Earth and Space and eighth grade science, it wasn’t necessarily very stressful because those classes are not necessarily super hard.” Merrill said. What would doubling up on sciences accomplish? For some people it means you don’t have to take a science senior year. For others, it’s so you can take more science classes, or science classes you actually want to take instead of ones you don’t. You might think classes overlap. For example, someone not having learned a concept in Biology they are building off of in Chemistry. However, Kotev says “They don’t really overlap. In fact, in Biology, my teacher has referenced topics we’ve talked about in Chemistry.” However, Merill disagrees. Merrill says, “At West High the AP psychics [course] is actually the calculus based mechanics course. I struggled a bit with the calculus part because I’m only in precalculus. I haven’t taken calculus, which makes it a little more difficult for me to understand some of the calculus concepts I’ve never encountered before.”

Overall, doubling up can be worth it to some people, and not to others. If you enjoy science, you should definitely do it. If not, don’t stress about it. Spend time doing things you enjoy. There are pros and cons to doubling up, but it mostly comes down to whether you like the courses or not.