As you scroll through the course selection sheet for each year, you notice 32 different advanced placement (AP) classes with varying difficulty levels, such as the stereotypically easy AP Environmental Science and the notoriously fatiguing AP Physics C, right next to each other. While making perilous decisions about how many APs to take next year without destroying your self-esteem, you hear a familiar chime of an Instagram DM. However, this time, it’s your situationship cutting themselves off from you without a second thought or explanation. Was it your fault? Was it their fault? But all you know is the crushing defeat of another severed tie to a fellow classmate in a confounding game called dating.
With multiple APs, teachers provide you with adequate materials, formulas and study guides, all in preparation for the early May College Board exam. Lectures filled with scientific equations and interesting uses of graphics combine into a comprehensive lesson plan for the entire year. Dating, on the other hand, has no Heimler history videos, no proven method on how to date perfectly and most importantly, a giant pool filled with confused individuals who lack any type of emotional depth. With sites such as apbiopenguins, there is at least a pattern of future AP exam tests, the most important units in an AP course. On the other hand, dating has a bunch of random content creators trying to say the best text messages to send your potential girl/boyfriend and numerous random red-pill reels about hookup culture.
On the day of your AP exam date, getting a 75% would almost guarantee a five on your exam, so you might not need to ace integrals or know what the Glass-Steagall Act is (Mr. Zenoni, I know what it is now). However, in dating, with one wrong text message or one wrong move, your relationship might be over in a click of a button. Getting 99 messages correct beforehand can’t save the one incorrect one sitting at the top of your DMs.
If you think I’m wrong, look at the facts. Dr. Tirrel De Gannes, a licensed clinical psychologist in New York, explains how nearly half of Americans say that dating is harder than it was even ten years ago. One of these reasons for the difficulty of dating, surprisingly, was technology, the creation that made it easier to get in touch with other people. Another one was the lack of intentions or clear communication by either party, which leads to one absolutely heartbroken and the other feeling guilty for their actions.
Although some people may argue that dating is exponentially easier than APs, I would reply that while there are hundreds, possibly thousands of Dougherty students participating in an AP level course this year, on the other hand, I could probably count the number of couples at DV on the tips of my own fingers.
This Gen Z trend of the inability to find solid relationships in high school could stem from the fact that the whole idea of dating in the 21st century is just unpredictable. The AP Literature style analysis that is needed to interpret each text message, each Instagram story and each snap drives this generation insane. Also, none of these dating skills were ever taught to us by any of our parental figures in our lives (honestly, that’s probably a positive thing). We were forced to go into the world with absolutely no idea of how to express romantic ideas or thoughts tangibly without getting absolutely cooked in the group chat or ghosted for unknown reasons.
While I’m not against dating, I’m just explaining the challenges and struggles of trying to be perfect while being interesting at the same time. Everyone just has to chill and accept people for who they are because no one is perfect, and sometimes, we as a society have to allow mistakes sometimes. In this quote in the popular TV show, “ How I Met Your Mother,” one of the main characters, Ted Mosby, utters this line.
“Love isn’t a science, although sometimes I wish it was.”
