Ginny and Georgia Season 2 revealed the weird yet understandable reason why Ginny Miller (Antonia Gentry) decided to drop out of the Advanced Placement (AP) English course. The hit Netflix series began with Ginny, her mother, Georgia (Brianne Howey), and her brother, Austin (Diesel La Torraca), moving to Wellsbury for a fresh start.
The move meant that Ginny would need to start a new academic life at Wellsbury High, and part of the process is enrolling in a new AP English course due to her interest in the subject. However, during Ginny's first day in her AP English class, it seemed that trouble found her due to her annoying teacher, Mr. Gitten (Jonathan Potts).
Why Did Ginny Drop Out of AP English?
Right off the bat, Ginny and Georgia Season 1 established the conflict between Ginny and Mr. Gitten.
During her first day as a sophomore, Ginny pointed out to Mr. Gitten that most of the books they were studying were only written by white men, and only one Black author was in the syllabus. With her being serious about her education, Ginny said she's worried that she might "internalize an ideology that the main viewpoint [of the greats] is only that of the white male," meaning that her voice (as the prominent Black student in class) would be deemed immaterial. This was on top of the fact that Mr. Gitten kept calling her "Virginia" instead of "Ginny."
The pair's rivalry didn't stop there; it continued throughout Seasons 1 and 2. Mr. Gitten treated Ginny differently due to her race, leading to a tense confrontation in the Season 1 finale. She called him out as a racist before she blackmailed him into signing a glowing college recommendation letter to prevent her from reporting him.
Season 2 saw Ginny returning to school after running away, meaning she had to go through Mr. Gitten's AP English again. However, Gitten had other plans for her upon her return to prove he is not a racist. He asked Ginny to choose a book that chronicled the life of a person of color and teach the class all about the subject.
This weird move from Gitten was the tipping point for Ginny to call him out in front of the class before she walked out, ultimately dropping out of the AP English course altogether.
Aside from Mr. Gitten's annoying tactics, Ginny dropped out of her AP English class because she was overwhelmed not only by the high demand for school work related to the subject but also by the mental struggles she had been experiencing in her personal life.
How Ginny Moved Forward After Dropping Out of AP English
Ginny's decision to drop out of AP English allowed her to reflect on her life and ultimately prioritize her mental health. She worked on improving her strained relationship with Georgia. She also started to form a closer bond with her friends, Max, Abby, and Norah (read more on who Abby ended up with in Ginny and Georgia Season 3).
In a way, deciding not to move forward with her AP English course turned out to be a blessing in disguise. By escaping from the subject's high demand and its racist professor, Ginny was able to reflect and reassess her priorities in life, giving her the wisdom to choose the next best steps in her life.
In fact, in Season 3, Ginny was able to replace AP English with a much better program in the form of her poetry class, which further improved her writing and knowledge about poems overall. She even became a Youth Poet Laureate by the end of the season, further cementing her love for the subject.
While she became pregnant midway through Ginny and Georgia Season 3, the poetry class helped her reconnect with her ex-boyfriend, Marcus, after she wrote him a poem to remind him that she will always be there for him, no matter what.
