Many students like to think junior year is the hardest, but senior Jessica Komarovsky could probably argue a different point. Taking nine AP classes, Komarovsky is doing her best to hold on to her class rank of number 8.

“I wanted to challenge myself so for the mandatory courses, I like them to be more advanced,” Jessica said. “Besides a lot of my friends are taking the same classes I’m taking and I wanted to be with them.”

While it is easy for her to get distracted, Komarovsky tries to fit in studying and doing homework throughout her day.

“I’m not the best at staying at task but I do try to get work done while talking,” Jessica said. “Sometimes I’m studying during advisory and sometimes I come in early to talk to a teacher or stay after school. When I get home I pretty much right away start studying but sometimes I get distracted beforehand.”

AP Literature teacher Joshua Melton has first hand knowledge of Jessica’s desire to improve and learn.

“I like Jessica a lot,” he said. “In the beginning of the year she was the only person who would come and ask me questions but even that got to a point where she would come all the time and ask me multiple times the same questions but it showed me that she really cared about what was going on in my class. Her questions were never really about her grades but rather the material that she wanted to understand and so doing that I got to see what kind of student she was but also got to know her as a person.”

Aspiring to be a pediatrician, Jessica is taking classes she will need in college to help her reach her goal of becoming a doctor.

“Since I want to be a pediatrician, my job actually helps because I work with kids since I’m a taekwondo teacher,” Jessica said. “Also I’ve taken AP Chemistry, AP Physics and this year I’m taking AP Biology, so I’ve got some advanced science classes. And I’m taking AP Calc AB and AP Calc BC right now so advanced math will help. In general I think lots of my difficult course loads will help me get ready for more difficult classes in college.”

After her sophomore year, Jessica was able to get a taste of college life when she did a program at UCLA, one of the country’s top universities. And later volunteered at a hospital the summer before her senior year.

“The summer before my junior year I did a two week college program at UCLA which was like a art science hybrid and I guess it gave me a taste of college life and also it was just an interesting program,” Jessica said. “I also volunteered at the Irving branch of Baylor Scott and White Medical Center over the summer.”

Unlike Jessica, her dad Stanislav doesn’t think taking a lot of APs is necessary.

“I’m not sure it’s necessary,” Stanislav said. “Because she works too hard and she sleeps really late, so I don’t think it’s really necessary.”

Despite what her parents might think, the schools Jessica is applying to such as Duke, UT Austin, Rice and UTD look at her AP classes, so to her they are necessary.

“For some colleges I’m applying to, they still look at my senior grades even after they accept me,” Jessica said. “So my grades are still important. And furthermore, AP classes are good because they let you get college credits. And since I wanna be a pediatrician, there is a lot years of studying in my future  so all the college credit I can get the better.”

On top of the workload she gets everyday after school, she still takes a couple of hours out of her day to work.

“I work at Kim’s Tiger Kicks and I really enjoy working there,” Jessica said. “I think it’s important to have stuff in your life that goes beyond school and is stress relieving for me, so I think it’s worth it, it’s also healthy to workout.”

Between work and school, it can be tough to manage her time, but with good planning, Komarovsky is able to get what’s needed done but also having time to take breaks.

“Sometimes I do have to stay up late,” Jessica said. “But in general, I try to plan my time, create a list of priorities, take breaks when I need them, and always make time for enjoying myself too so I don’t get overwhelmed.”

Jessica believes that if you’re willing to put in the work then it can be beneficial but it isn’t always relevant.

“It depends on what you want to do with your life,” Jessica said. “I think it’s not always relevant for people to take all these AP classes. And I feel like not everyone is willing to put in the work, so if you aren’t willing to put in the work, I don’t know if you should be taking these classes. However I do think that people can do it if they want to, as long as they understand that it’s going to be a lot of work. Sometimes it can be tiring, but we have to take responsibility if we make this choice.”