HIGH LIFE : Students List Their Toughest Classes and Tell Why

No matter how much dedication is given to doing homework and studying for tests, nearly every student has a daily schedule that would be just that much nicer minus one or two classes.

Thus, Hot Topics asks: “What is your hardest class and why?”

“World history--I get the men and what they did all mixed up.”

Collen McGuinness, 14,

freshman, Bethel Baptist

“Spanish--it takes the most effort and the most studying; however, the class is fun and that makes it easier than it really is.”

Becky Williams, 16,

junior, Bethel Baptist

“Calculus--it has a lot more work than I like to do, and I don’t have the basic math skills to survive . . . like adding, subtracting, etc.”

Karin Stein, 17,

senior, Cypress

“Social studies--I like it a lot, but it’s a hard class, especially the tests.”

Min-Yi Han, 13,

freshman, Cypress

“AP language--the teacher covers difficult material and assigns grueling, time-consuming assignments.”

Scott Townsend, 17,

senior, Dana Hills

“AP calculus--math is a boring subject for me and even though it’s not that difficult, I get rather impatient.”

Julie Coontz, 17,

senior, Dana Hills

“Either Spanish II or world history--I don’t study for the tests and I get mediocre grades.”

Mark Ogdon, 14,

freshman, Esperanza

“British Literature--all the reading . . . there’s not enough time to do it.”

Shannon Hickman, 17,

senior, Esperanza

“Trigonometry--it demands a lot of memorization and various applications.”

Mike Collins, 17,

senior, Estancia

“Physics--I just plumb don’t understand it.”

Curtis Kin, 17,

senior, Foothill

“Calculus, AP civics and AP English--that’s almost all of my classes.”

Laura Dardashti, 17,

senior, Foothill

“Biology--there are so many Latin terms.”

Grace Adams, 13,

freshman, Heritage

“Spanish I--all the conjugations.”

Melissa Williams, 18,

senior, Heritage

“Algebra--it’s first period and I have to live through the rest of the day.”

Tammy Cottrell, 16,

junior, Lutheran

“Honors English--understanding it is easy, but putting it down on paper can sometimes be difficult.”

Rachel Otte, 17,

senior, Lutheran

“AP Latin 4--my teacher is using a different version of Virgil’s ‘Aeneid.’ Also, the words in the sentences which we have to translate are not in order, making translating difficult and confusing.”

Karilyn House, 17,

senior, Marina

“AP English--I was born in another country, Vietnam. My background and my family’s language make it hard for me to write correct grammar.”

Dan Tran, 17,

senior, Marina

“U.S. history--some of the terms that my teacher uses from years ago are too hard to remember.”

Richard Tran, 16,

junior, Marina

“History--you have to take so many notes, and there’s so many things to memorize for the tests.”

Pancho Lozano, 17,

junior, Mater Dei

“Geometry--I hate it and I don’t understand it.”

Dave Gonzales, 15,

sophomore, Mater Dei

“English--vocabulary tests kill me off. I can never remember the words or what they mean.”

Fred Pauley, 17,

senior, Orange

“Spanish--it’s too hard to remember what everything means.”

Barbara Dudka, 16,

junior, Orange

“AP history--all we do is have lectures and tests over and over, essay tests 85% of the time. Essays aren’t my best subject, either.”

Debbie Ford, 16,

senior, Orange

“Chemistry--I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.”

Becky Araujo, 16,

junior, Santa Ana

“Art--I can’t draw.”

George Rivero, 17,

senior, Santa Ana

“Math--it has always been my worst subject because it gets boring, and there’s too much to remember to work the problems.”

Edwin Antonio, 17,

junior, Trabuco Hills

“English--there are so many skills to master.”

Mike Williams, 14,

freshman, Trabuco Hills

“Physics--it is a combination of learning concepts and doing math as well. That makes it more difficult than pure math because it requires you to connect it with something physical.”

Stefanie Nanes, 17,

senior, Troy

“Mathematics--there is only one correct answer. My teacher said it best: ‘You have to learn it now, and it doesn’t relate to anything, but later it all fits into place.’ ”

Mike Mattis, 17,

senior, Troy

“English--it makes me actually think. Math and science are logical and come easy to me, but English is the only class where I really have to think abstractly.”

Ian Campbel, 16,

junior, Troy

“Physics--I don’t understand the forces and friction, and I already have senioritis.”

Kristen Sortais, 17,

senior, University

“AP biology--it has an advanced placement test. There’s so much information that I have to learn.”

Rob Van Schenk, 17,

senior, University

“Honors math analysis--it’s not just plugging numbers into a formula; we really have to understand.”

Ryan Takenaga, 17,

junior, Valencia

“Band--first of all because I have to get up for zero period and secondly I have to memorize the music.”

Tom Cuffari, 14,

freshman, Valencia

“AP English--it’s all hieroglyphics to me.”

Shais Khan, 17,

senior, Villa Park

“Chemistry--it takes up the most time, and it’s rather complex.”

Jodi Ross, 17,

senior, Villa Park

Next Week’s Hot Topic: What will be the earth’s major concern in the year 2000?

Hot Topic responses gathered by Chris Bergerud, Joanna Brooks, Angela Conner, Rachel de Velder, Tania Diaz, John Doney, Roxane Dyrud, Stephanie Jeffers, Jenny Kaplan, Lynda Kim, Kyra Kirkwood, Rebecca Leung, Tabetha Nakasone, Monica Neal, Hai Pham, Gabriel Saldivar, Jana Swail.