Excitement grows as more days are knocked off the countdown to summer, but for Advanced Placement classes, this brings a daunting task: completing AP exams. Facing a three-hour cumulative exam based on college curriculum right as the temperature rises is not something that gets easier with experience. The cost of the exam and the potential of getting college credits puts even more pressure on the students. Add in multiple exams for some students and hours of studying and review classes,  anyone would want incentive.

At Woodland, incentive can come through creating a class t-shirt for the exam. It may be simple, but it gives students motivation to see that everyone in the class is powering through together. The classes band together to make memorable shirts, so when the tests do come, they are not alone.

“It is fun to design the shirts,” explains senior Alyssa Varesio, “and brings unity to the class as it is a token that we are all in the same boat.”

To add to the unity, classes will add jokes relating the class. As little as this may seem, it resonates with the students during the exams and after.

“They typically have a witty joke on them that pertains to the subject,” reveals senior Noelle Guerrera, “which creates a sense of pride among the students in the class whenever they see the joke, because they took the time to excel in the advanced subject.”

Even after the exam and the end of the year, teachers and students remember what the shirts showed even as years passed. The t-shirts can serve as a memory of the class, years after.

“It makes me remember the good times I had in the class and how much I learned,” reflects senior Colin Kennelly.

While in the end, a t-shirt is no representation of the score a student will receive, it makes the exam easier to get through. It serves as a symbol of the hard work the students put in as well as the hope for success.