Juniors enrolled in Advanced Placement Capstone Seminar submitted their Task 2 assignments to the College Board during this last week. Task 2 consisted of three main elements: a 2,000-word written research paper, and a six-to-eight-minute oral presentation and a two-question defense.

“I’m so relieved to be finished,” junior Kaylee Willner said. “We had a lot of freedom in topic selection, so completing Task 2 wasn’t that bad, but at the same time, it’s just a huge burden lifted off our shoulders. Knowing that months of work has finally been submitted is a very comforting.”

After receiving a packet of documents at the start of Task 2, the students had to select a research question inspired by the documents, write a paper, prepare a presentation and practice for a defense — all within a 30-day period. The recurring themes of the documents were intelligence and genius. Students had the flexibility to narrow down to topics from there.

Students now shift focus to preparation for their AP examination, which combines several of the elements they have learned throughout the year, such as credibility verification and source analysis. The exam will be given May 5.

“Now that we have finished Task 2, I’m pretty relieved that I don’t have to write any more large research papers for this year,” junior Sergio Carlos said. “I have always preferred writing to giving oral presentations, so the shift to small simulated research papers for the AP exam is a much-needed respite from the hard work we’ve done all year.”