One of the greatest things about Hillsborough High School is how personalized a student can make his or her schedule. Classes can be picked based on both level of skill and level of interest.

Naturally, students who choose to take higher level classes have a considerably larger workload, specifically those in AP classes. Before the year even starts, there is summer work for each AP class that is expected to be completed by the first day of school. While the reasoning for teachers giving summer assignments is understandable, the rationality behind a school wide assignment is questionable.

For the 2015-2016 school year, when summer reading was assigned all students were told they must read I am Malala, and know the material well enough to hold a discussion during an extended homeroom at the beginning of the year. For this year, however, students were given the option to select one of three books, and when homeroom discussions were held, different groups were formed based on the book that was read. In addition to the three groups, a fourth group was to be organized for those who chose not to read any of the books at all.

The explanation for not completing the assignment varied between students, but most had one reason in common: time.

Between jobs, sports, and work for all other classes, most high schoolers simply do not have time to do everything they are assigned, and the school wide book is not a priority because students know it will not affect any of their classes.

Junior Caroline Pabst chose not to read any of the three books because she was busy writing four essays for AP Language and Composition.

“AP students shouldn’t have to do the school wide read because of all the other work we have to do,” Pabst said. “And that work will directly affect our grades, we know the other book won’t.”

Choosing to take multiple AP classes should not come with a punishment, and while it is necessary to prepare for these classes over the summer, it is unreasonable to ask those in these classes to do more work than they need to. By assigning an additional book to read, the school is taking up time that many high schoolers do not have.

Junior Lili Passalacqua, who is enrolled in three AP classes for the school year, agrees that a school wide assignment is counterproductive.

“We spend hours doing assignments that other students don’t have to do at all,” Passalacqua said. “It’s hard to find the time, and we don’t get anything out of it.”

While it is obviously important for people of all ages to read, the school forcing it upon already busy students does not serve to make them better readers, it only makes the upcoming school year more daunting.