Ever wondered how the brain and body work together? How our mental processes affect our behavior? Or how people think from a biological perspective or from a sociocultural perspective? You might be interested in AP Psychology.

What is Psychology?
Senior AP Psych student Isabella Pujol said, “We learned all about the understanding of human beings and their drives for doing what they do.”

Sophomore Anjee Rodriguez added, “We learned that color is fake. It’s all an illusion in our minds; and language is all in your head.”
Besides receiving college credit by passing the AP exam, there are other benefits to being in AP Psychology. Sophomore Pamela Cardoza believes that psychology is eye-opening and expands on previously learned concepts. Junior Martha Pastora said the class helped her develop better study skills and how to manage her time better. Sophomore Pablo Oseguera said, “This is an AP class so there is a lot of homework, I wish I learned earlier in the year to not have procrastinated as much.”

Where are the Boys?

   This year the AP Psychology class is made up of 15 students, but only 2 are males. AP Psychology teacher Ms. Fernandini thinks that many males don’t sign up because they believe it is a humanities class, but in reality, psychology is a social science.

“Even if the choice is subconscious, males tend to gravitate toward STEM classes and females gravitate towards humanities,” she said.

Isabella Pujol, however, said, “I guess the guys couldn’t handle the class. Girls run the world!”

Project-Based Learning

Throughout the year, Ms. Fernandini assigns many projects to teach students about the concepts in psychology. “Everything we learn in class happens in students’ lives or the lives of the people around them, so the purpose of the projects is to apply and engage with the theories hands-on,” she said.

Junior Giselle Pollan said the Baby Project was the most memorable. “We needed to make a 5-pound baby out of rice or flour and walk around with it the whole day for about 2 weeks as if it were a real baby. We could never let it out of our sight. If we ever mistreated our baby, Ms. Fernandini would force us to write a 2-page paper on child abuse,” she said.

Junior Nataly Cancio agreed. She said, “People would always judge us and give us weird looks. It was really funny, especially, if you walked home with the baby.”

Pamela Cardoza liked the brain structure project. “It helped me encode all the parts and functions of the brain,” she said.

Isabella Pujol’s favorite project was about breaking social norms, where students would do something they wouldn’t normally do. “I would make a line in a store and have no intention to buy anything, and then I would just have a random conversation with the cashier,” she said.

Memories
The AP Psychology students had many memorable moments throughout the year. Martha Pastora loved the moment she walked out of the AP exam room because, “I felt like the weight was lifted off my shoulders and I could finally breathe.”

Pamela Cardoza said, “I loved the environment of the classroom. We were all like a family who would stress over the same things and laugh all together as a class.”