Prisha Goyal is currently taking AP World History as a sophomore because of her love of history and challenges.

“I have enjoyed history since learning [about] Texas History in seventh grade. My teacher was very fun and made learning dates and facts engaging and interactive versus just standing at the front of the room and lecturing,” Prisha said.

AP World History, known as WHAP, is a college level history class where you can earn college credit, is offered to sophomores. AP World History students learn about cultures, societies, early and modern civilizations, and more. They also learn the skills to explain these events in history and develop critical thinking skills to help them later in college.

“In WHAP, the history of the world is split up into six different time periods from 600 CE to present day. There are five course themes that relate to each time period in some way. These themes include Between Humans and the Environment, Development and Interaction of Cultures, State Building, Expansion, and Conflict, Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems and the Development and Transformation of Social Structures,” Prisha said.

Prisha has had to adjust to the new fast pace of WHAP coming out of only advanced geography as a freshman.

“I love the interactiveness of WHAP and the collaboration that is involved. The amount of work can be stressful, but it is all just in preparation for the AP Test. It is a very enjoyable class in that you learn something new every day which makes you understand the way different group of people view the world,” Prisha said.

WHAP offers the challenge of reading straight out of a textbook while still understanding the criteria, which is a struggle for many students in the class.

“ I don’t like the amount of reading that is involved in WHAP. You are expected to understand all of the material, and there is just too much information to absorb,” Prisha said.

However, with her desire to learn about history, she does feel the class is worth it and doesn’t regret doing it.

“I took WHAP because I enjoy learning history and about different cultures and religions. It is interesting to see how different parts of the world are interconnected through shared language, culture, or religion. I like analyzing the different interactions groups of people have with each other, and understanding the ways different parts of the world adapt to certain circumstances,” Prisha said.

Prisha made sure to keep up with her reading, homework and studying in WHAP though, and she is coming out of it successfully.

“I would recommend WHAP for people who love learning about all parts of the world. WHAP is for any motivated student who loves to read and write and learn about the different migration patterns, religions, cultures, and languages of different groups of people,” Prisha said.