With the AP exams just a month away, most students are deep in review sessions and practice tests. But for the AP world history class, which struggled with finding a replacement for longtime AP world history teacher Andrea Maines, the challenge is even more pressing, leaving many AP students anxious about the exam. 

“I like Mr. Drabek, he just doesn’t really know the content as well as Ms. Maines,” sophomore Isaac Snyder said.

Although there is often a significant gap between recognizing the material and fully grasping it, these AP students are putting in the effort to bridge that divide and earn a five. 

“It’s hard because we don’t have a teacher who teaches AP world. Mr. Drabeck was an econ teacher for 28 years,” sophomore Owen Thorburn said. “There are a lot of online resources like videos and our notes, but it’s hard.”

With just over 30 days left until the test they’ve spent the past eight months preparing for, the worries of their results weigh heavily on their shoulders.

“I wanted to get a four or a five on the test, but now I think I’ll get maybe a four if not a three,”  sophomore Jordan Rudolph said.

Getting long-term substitutes is hard, but getting one midway through the year is even harder. In no world is it ideal for an AP teacher to leave, but to fill the position they left is just as hard. 

“I think Mr. Drabeck is doing a really good job with what he’s been given; they just placed him in a tough position,” said Thorburn. “It’s a tough job to get halfway through the school year.”

Making good with what they have, these AP world students have no choice but to engage in what Ms. Maines would say “fight, flight, or freeze mode” in order to get a score they want but at the end of the day, they only have what they have been given. 

“I think it’s been hard, but I think I’ll still do okay on the exam,” Snyder said.