Which Classes Had the Biggest Impact on You?

Multiple students mentioned Midwood’s Robotics class as one of their favorites. Photo: Sabrine Uddin

By JOSEPH WANG, JAYLEN LI, and ANNA MIROSHNYK
As the 2025 school year draws to a close, Midwood’s seniors reflect on the power of the classes that have shaped their paths for college and adult life. From a diverse range of electives to challenging APs, seniors shared with us how these courses have influenced their goals, plans, and memories of high school. 

For many Hornets, the classes that they found most meaningful were the ones that helped them pave the path for future opportunities or taught them valuable life lessons or skills.

As Midwood specializes in science, it should be no surprise that classes like biology and anatomy often made students’ “best-of” lists. 

“I took AP Bio unsure of what I wanted to major in,” said Eva Chou, “but during the course, I realized that I wanted to spend my college years learning about biology.”

“AP Biology was a class that I had wanted to take for a while, and I’m glad I did,” said Ivan Ng. “The lab experiences are fun and the collective struggle of taking difficult classes like these is beneficial for making friends.”

Orlando Mohammed is going to Medgar Evers College and majoring in biology as well. 

"My favorite and most beneficial classes were anatomy and physiology,” Mohammed said. “My goal in the future is to become a physical therapist, and I feel these classes helped me gain important knowledge about the field." 

Angelina Maiorov will be majoring in chemistry at the University of Tampa next year. Ms. Kimberly Lau’s Ocean Science “became one of my favorite classes at Midwood,” she said, and it gave her an opportunity to join the Ocean Science Team.

"Ms. Lau was like my mentor,” Maiorov added. “She believed in me and opened so many new doors for me. I cannot thank and credit her enough.”

The school’s science program is “incredible,” said Afzal Akhtar. “With so many opportunities to showcase your talents, such as publication in journals and entering research competitions, it combines both science and writing, allowing you to learn more while also becoming a better presenter.”

Joseph Trontz, who is attending New York University, highlighted AP Psychology, as it helped him learn about interesting human behavior and new theories about the mind.

"I loved all our discussions in the class,” he said. “We talked about mental health and decision-making in humans and why they act the way they do. We learned how to predict behavior, use our thinking skills, and apply them to real-world situations."

For students who enjoy analyzing literature and expressing ideas through writing, English classes were a perfect fit.

“The class that had the biggest impact on me was my junior year AP Lit class with Ms. Guarino,” said Sidra Muntaha. “The books we read and the articles we poured over and annotated every night completely shifted how I view the world.”

Noah Bonner brought up AP Seminar. “It helped me develop my ability to research, evaluate sources, and most importantly, present information effectively,” Bonner said. “It was also the most memorable for the countless instances I've shared with my peers goofing off, preparing for presentations, and peer reviewing our papers in the late hours of the night.”

If you don’t like reading and writing but are captivated by problem-solving challenges and tackling equations, then there’s always math for you.

“My AP Calculus teacher Ms. Bueno was very knowledgeable, and I enjoyed the way the class was run based on cooperative learning with groupmates and practice, opposed to monotonous daily lessons,” said Whaley Lin. “The ridiculous moments that I shared with my teachers and classmates alike made that calculus class fun.”

Volleyball got some love from the seniors as well. “It was one of my favorites,” said Eric Ren. “I would say this class got me to love the sport and also connected me with a bunch of new people.”

“Volleyball is like the calmest and my favorite sport,” said Keri Tang. “I got to play with my friends and the lasting moments doing so made it very fun.”

Muntasir Bhuiyan appreciated the variety of classes Midwood offers. Bhuiyan is attending the University of Buffalo, majoring in finance and accounting.

"The most beneficial class I've taken was Economics," said Bhuiyan. "Learning how money works and understanding all the financial concepts of banking and finance in general is very useful for the future, in my opinion."

But the funnest class was robotics, Bhuiyan said. “I was so excited to go to robotics every day,” he explained. “It was by far one of my favorite classes. I got to learn how to make, work, and control robots, and program them to function."  

"The most important lesson I learned from this class was that teamwork will always make a challenge easier,” he said. “You have to work through the different opinions and disagreements, but it’s worth it in the end." 

The seniors also offered their advice when it comes to Midwood’s various AP offerings.

Akhtar said, “AP Environmental Science is a class I recommend everyone to take. It provided me with an open-minded ideology of the world around me and had numerous hands-on lessons with enthusiastic teachers.”

AP Psychology, AP Computer Science Principles, and AP Comparative Government were described as some of the easier APs, while AP Physics and AP Calculus BC were called some of the hardest – they’re “great choices when you’re enjoying life too much!” Louis Zhang said.

“I definitely feel like there are some foundational courses that people ought to take,” Lin said. “For example, AP Seminar definitely prepares you well for anything, especially for implementing research, which is necessary in practically any field.” Taking AP Seminar and AP Research grants students a Capstone Diploma, which is a nice addition to your resume.

However, don’t overdo it on APs, students said.

“Personally, I would advise against taking APs unless they are relevant to your future career," said Ng. “Many students take certain classes just because they see others taking them, but it doesn’t benefit them in the long run and is a waste of time.”

“Don’t take a class that won’t help your post-secondary career, which includes taking AP classes just for the ‘free credit’,” said Justin Spencer. “Almost all of my classes caused me to study for long periods of time, so taking an amount that you can handle is recommended.”

To the seniors we talked to, choosing the right classes isn't just about filling a schedule, it’s about having an experience that can leave a lasting impact. It’s not just the grade that matters, it’s the memories, the learning moments, and the journey that truly makes it worthwhile.