When my sister was about to start middle school, I remember telling her to be in all Pre-AP STEM classes because they were better than regular. At the moment I was in Stem Pre-AP. I remember telling her that that’s what most kids who actually ‘wanted to succeed’ in school did.

That if you weren’t in Pre-AP, you weren’t smart enough.

That if you weren’t in STEM you’d end up with the ‘bad kids.’

I now realize that was a lie that I used to blindly believe.

The fact that you are in STEM or not, or the class level you take doesn’t determine who you are. It doesn’t determine how you should view yourself as a person. It doesn’t determine how you should view other people.  We as humans are thought that everything has a label, everything belongs to a group, and that it defines who you want to be.

That shouldn’t be true.

There is a lot of people who are doing excellent in school and aren’t necessarily in D.C., AP or even Pre-AP classes. We as students try to choose classes that will fit us best. The fact that you don’t take those classes does not mean you are not smart. If you are in all regular, it doesn’t mean you don’t want to do good in school. The classes you take can shape who you are, yet they don’t determine you.

What gets to determine if you will do good in life or not?

Your freshman regular class? Your sophomore AP class?

Only you can determine how you want to live your life.

Only you determine if you will accomplish your goals.

Even the simple task of choosing our classes can sometimes stress us out. We are told that we must do above good if we want to get in a good college. Teachers, parents, friends — they will push to choose the ‘better classes.’ That decision should be yours to take. You know what you will do better in. Only you know what’s better for you physically and mentally. I am not saying you shouldn’t be in advanced classes, I am just trying to let you know to always choose yourself first.