At some point in their school careers, students have thought of a class to be the most difficult one they’ve ever taken. But the real question is: What’s the hardest class at North Atlanta High School? With the many classes offered at NAHS, there are ones that prove to be more strenuous than others. To understand this, it is important to look at what components of a so-called “hard class” create a challenge academically or time management-wise for students. Not only that, it is also important to understand how to survive those classes to the best of your ability, and to also understand that there are positives to taking these classes.
There are numerous components that make a class difficult. They can range from a large workload, difficult concepts, and a massive amount of content and information. Sophomore Sara Phillips recognized that classes were difficult because of the sheer amount of information the class contains. Philips answers the question that classes become hard when there’s so much to cover, and it can feel like the weight of knowledge is constantly crushing you. “It is a lot of information that makes a class so hard, like AP World,” she said. “I still grasp the material a little bit, but it’s just a lot.”
But the question remains: What is the most difficult class? Many people might say AP Calc BC, AP/IB Physics, or IB Biology. But a current senior, Gabrielle Joy Sullivan, believes IB Sports Science HL is the most difficult class at NAHS. She says this is the case because of the amount of work the class requires. “[It’s the most difficult class] because of the mass amounts of busy work that is assigned, rather than actual course material,” she said.
Although these classes prove to be difficult, there are many ways to get through them successfully. Many students said the most important thing when taking a challenging course was keeping up with the work and staying organized. Sullivan’s keys to success in classes that are proven difficult are to write down her to-dos. “I manage [classes] through organization, and planning things out on an actual written planner,” she said.
Hard courses are a part of high school, some would argue they define the high school experience, and they will always be around. Whether it’s overbearing, difficult busy work, or an “impossible” amount of information to process, they are a necessary part of school life as a teenager. Even though NAHS’s classes can be taxing, they allow students to grow in their time management, critical thinking, communication, and leadership skills. Whether you like them or not, difficult classes are unavoidable, no matter what “category” of difficulty they fall into.
