Taking AP Seminar this year has helped me learn and investigate more deeply into a specific topic that I enjoyed. This class is unique from other classes I have taken because it allows you to collaborate with other people to research a topic that interests the whole group.

This class has also helped me develop skills for independent research such as developing the skills to create a research question and being able to narrow down the question into something that is more researchable.

Not only does this apply to real-world applications such as what is happening around the world currently, it also teaches you truly how to research, which oftentimes requires collaboration.

For those of you who get nervous while presenting, this class is for you too! Because this class is a research class, you first do the research, and then you present your topic.

The first 4 months of the class are focused on writing your Individual Research Report (IRR) and a Team Multimedia Presentation (TMP). In these months, your group gets to choose a topic, spend time drafting an arguable research question, and then put that research into a slideshow. The IRR is written simultaneously while you are researching in which you put the different perspectives you researched into conversation with one another.

The second part of the seminar course is where you receive a packet of around 5 stories or articles revolving around a theme. This part is the independent portion and you get to draft your research question based off of the theme. Then, you write a report of your findings and make a 6-8 minute presentation on it by yourself.

This AP course, I believe, is essential for real life as well. In college, we’ll have to be able to research topics we don’t understand, and with this ability we learn in high school, we can better thrive in college.