Welcome to your very first 204 blog post. We will be using this blog frequently, both as a tool and a resource to get the most out of our time, and as a place we can go to share thoughts and valuable information and ideas whenever we need to. Each week, there will be a question posted that you all must respond to in the allotted amount of time.
These questions may be a jumping off point to class discussions, a support activity to lend insight or knowledge to what we are doing in class, or simply a thought-provoking way to get you to look at the world around you and marvel at your place in it.
These questions will not be simplistic, and they should not be done when you only have 5 or so minutes on the computer; rather, they are questions designed to make you think and your posts should reflect that. You will be graded weekly on your responses by their content, so I would encourage you to try to not leave them for the last minute. Each one will have a word minimum, but don't be discouraged by that. I care much more about the quality of the thought you put into your responses rather than the quantity of the words you use.
Now that the formalities are finished, I would like you to consider the following: You are now entering your junior year. Some people say that this is the toughest, most demanding year of high school for a variety of reasons. What do YOU think? Do you have any expectations about what this year should bring? What are you hoping to get out of your AP Lang class and your junior year in general? What are your fears about this class and/or about 11th grade? Are you where you want to be academically, socially, physically etc? If so, how do you know? If not, why do you think you aren't?
I’ve heard before that junior year is the most demanding, challenging, time-consuming year of high school. And I’ve heard it said plenty of times. So what am I supposed to think, besides what others have told me? It’s almost as if every junior is given the task of planting this seed into the younger students, so they all go begrudgingly into junior year expecting the worst. I’m still sitting here, fooling myself into thinking that even though I’ll be taking two to three AP classes senior year, compared to this year it’ll be a breeze. The easiest year of my life is just around the corner! And I think I’ll hold on dearly to that thought. A light at the end of the tunnel is more encouraging than a few candles along the way.
ReplyDeleteAs for what I expect this year to bring, I’m not exactly sure. I’m dreading the days when I’ll have to stay up all night, hopelessly wandering the house in search for ideas that’ll make some project more creative. But I also don’t expect those days to come around too often. I have a good feeling about the majority of the year. I just need to put some effort into spreading out work. Procrastinating doesn’t feel too bad until I realize I have the minimum amount of time left to get something done. At that point, there are no breaks to rest tired eyes or exhausted minds.
What I hope to get out of the AP lang class is skill. I’m looking forward to being able to pick apart literature and interpret it in helpful ways. I’m also looking forward to being a better writer, both for the AP exam and everything else. If a few more benefits come my way, I’ll gladly take them, but for now, that’s what I’m expecting to get out of this class. For everything else, I’m mostly looking for the same thing. Specific skills are taught in different classes.
My only fear about this year isn’t about any specific class. What I’m mostly concerned about is that my grades in one class suffer because of all the others. I can imagine all of the grades just sitting around in a locked room, where one has to make some sort of sacrifice so that all of the others can walk away unscathed. I’ve never seen the Saw films, but it sounds like something from that movie universe.
At the moment, I’m comfortable where I am. I have a great circle of friends that is rather small, but I like it that way. My class rank isn’t anything to complain about. I’m no body builder, but at the moment my weight is pretty healthy. Can I do better? Of course. But I can also see my free time slipping away into that black hole I like to call more work. I would confidently bet that everyone likes free time, as do I. So I’m really only prepared to put effort into school, because although my life doesn’t revolve around school, it’s still a fairly large portion compared to everything else.
In the end, I’m no seer. I can’t see into the future, so I don’t know how this year will turn out for me. Even though some tell me about how hard this year is, that claim is based on their own personal experience. My own personal junior year experience consists of five days. Five days into junior year doesn’t give my opinion a lot of credibility. I’m going to tough it out, so eventually I can have the experience and pass my own judgment. Is junior year the most demanding? We’ll all see, in time.
So junior year! Going into high school taking all honors courses, hoping to take AP starting as a sophomore and moving on to a good college, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I like a challenge so I was and still am up for it. Freshman and sophomore years weren’t exactly what I expected though. I thought it was going to be somewhere between what it was and what this year is. All of the AP work that I have this year, however, is up to my expectations. I like to think that I have been busier in the six days I’ve been a junior than freshman and sophomore year put together! As I know this isn’t quite true and I might complain about the work load I really do like it. My parents think I’m crazy, but I crave stress especially during the volleyball season when things can come up at any given time. I anticipate getting the mundane ‘good grades’ that I get every year however, unlike last year I expect to get fours or fives on my AP exams in the spring, and I am determined as the college I want to go to expects nothing less of me.
ReplyDeleteAs for Lang in specific, I expect it to be the most work and that my hand will fall off by June from all the writing and typing, but it’s all worth it. I enjoy English; I mean it’s not my favorite class in the world and I expect to make you, or anyone, believe that. I have horrible grammar and even worse spelling which I hope to make better during the course of the next nine or so months. Another aspect of Lang that I need to work on is my reading responses logs. Even in Rock’s honors class I didn’t do 100% on them and I am willing to work on that, so hopefully by the end of the year I’ll have that down. I know that I’m not an expert in the English Language and don’t just want a four or a five on my exam, I really want to learn more about the language through any means given. After all that is why I come to school; to learn.
Of course no one is exactly where they want to be in life, otherwise schools and sports and other competition-mode areas in life would fall apart. Last school year I became lazy with work, I blame this partially on the ease of classes resulting in my lack of attention and causing me to not have the grades that I am capable of receiving. I blame it partially on family distraction, but most importantly my caring was put on hold because of the decisions I made. That is what I need to work on most of all, and believe to be the hardest challenge that I personally will overcome this school year: studying, focusing and staying organized. I am hoping that the expectations of my teachers and myself combined will motivate me to become a better student. As cliché and cheesy and unlike me to say, it’s true, I really do hope to change for the better this year!
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ReplyDeleteJunior year is obviously the most difficult year for anyone in high school. It is by far the most important academically speaking, being that it is the last full year we will have completed before college acceptances become our primary focus, and because during junior year is when the most difficult classes are taken. Just with the amount of work needed to be put into academics alone, makes junior year typically the most challenging. Because we all know how much hard we needed to put into the first two years! However, almost anyone you talk to, being seniors or college students, say it is all worth the difficult and sometimes tedious work. An expectation of mine is to be able to overcome any work load after this year is over. All people hear about Junior year is work, work, and more work. By pushing through it, I’m hoping that it will better me as a student and as a person, by becoming able to drive through any kind or amount of work. Also, I hope to become better at managing many different things at once. That is the key to life, is it not? I am not necessarily looking to get anything out of AP Lang, besides knowledge of obviously. As far as fears go, I do have a couple. Being overcome is definitely one fear I have, but that shouldn’t be a problem, being that hundreds of other students have gone through the same task I am about to undergo. The other, a much more frequent fear, is “slipping” I guess you could call it. School is manageable on it’s own. Sports, in addition to school, can be a little tougher. Being a social being on top of those things, can be really difficult,and the list goes on and on, and I’m sure everyone else is facing the same problem as I am. We are all trying to be the best at everything. I’m going to have to prioritize, and something might have to suffer. I’d like to think of myself as “Superstudent” and succeed in every aspect, but obviously I’m not, so I have my doubts.
ReplyDeleteAcademically speaking, I’m happy with where I stand currently. My classes are challenging, and my grades are at my expectations. Sure, I could say, “Oh, well I wish my grades were better.”, but couldn’t they always be better? I’m happy with my grades, that’s all I care about. Same thing with being physical, I’m contempt with where I am, so I’m perfectly fine. Socially speaking, I have some doubts. Becoming more social is definitely on my to-do list of things that usually don’t get accomplished, but I work at it. We’re all AP nerds though, being social can be hard sometimes, we’ve all been there. There is one thing concerning junior year that I am really hoping to accomplish, and that is growing. As year goes by, I want to be more willing to take on work, complain less, and just grow in the most vague sense possible. If I can become better at managing work, and grow as an intellectual while I’m doing it, mission accomplished. I can’t ask for more then that.
I loved Cole’s reference, “I can imagine all of the grades just sitting around in a locked room, where one has to make some sort of sacrifice so that all of the others can walk away unscathed. I’ve never seen the Saw films, but it sounds like something from that movie universe.”, I’m sure everyone is feeling that way, just Cole made it hysterical.
To Janel, I really appreciate your confidence in yourself to make a positive change. If you believe it yourself, you can with no doubt achieve it. Just make sure to stay on top of your goals, because everyone makes the same goals. However, you seem really driven, so there’s no doubt you can do it.
Great, I knew I should have just commented first so at least there were no expectations, now since I'm third I have to match those novels up there. Junior year probably will be my hardest and most demanding year; it already seems as if it is! I have work piling on top of other work already and I'm only in my second week. I feel like this year I have the most pressure on me because it seems to be the most important year when it comes to college. I already have so much to do in taking 3 AP classes (which I know isn't as many as other people), I'm class president which is more then it seems, and I play baseball in the spring. There are people have harder classes and do more sports, that I know, but it still is going to be so much for me to handle.
ReplyDeleteI expect this year to bring lots of stress, thanks to my procrastinating self. I know it's my own fault, and every year I say I'm going to fix it, but it never really works out. I expect to spend some nights awake with bloodshot eyes begging for a little sleep. I'm hoping to really learn how to become a better overall student in AP Lang; I hope to learn better ways to study and better ways to manage my time. Hopefully what I do in this class will not only help me do better in the classes I have now, but also in the classes I have in the future. This year I really hope to establish my name around the Falcon community, I want everyone to know me and remember me when I leave. I also really want to spend more quality time with my family and close friends this year because I know when June of 2013 comes around, my time will be limited.
This year, I really fear that my work is going to pile on and I'm going to fall behind. This is the worst thing I could possibly do this year, and I'm already doing my best to make sure it doesn't happen. I fear like most other people in this class: failure. I'm pretty sure there's nothing worse than letting myself and my family down by failing. Another thing about this year that I'm not looking forward to is making my decision whether or not to run for class president or student council president. I've been going back on forth on this since the beginning of sophomore year. I don't want to quit now as class president, being it three years running. But, I also want to do more, which is where student council president comes in. Hopefully when the time comes, I'll make the right choice.
Academically, I'm exactly where I want to be, I really like my class rank of 18. Yes, I wouldn't mind moving up, but I'm happy where I'm at. Socially, I feel like I have the greatest group of friends I could ever ask for. Spending all day with my closest friends is so awesome, and my long school day runs by so much more smoothly. I'm also pretty happy that I have really good friends who happen to go to Cedar Creek (boooo). I feel like if I see them less, the time I spend with them is more worth the wait. Physically, I'm happy where I'm at. Sometimes i wish my doctor never told me i wasn't going to grow much more, but hey nothing you can do about that one. Well, nothing I can do than work out and get big and sexy... I guess we'll see how that goes. Overall I am so happy with my life and there isn't a single thing I'd change with it and I have a strong feeling that this junior year won't deter me off the path I'm on now.
Make that fourth...
ReplyDeleteDear Junior Year,
ReplyDeleteI’ve heard of your arduous tasks that you will spit at my feet. You are fabled to force the extremes upon us students. Between loads of college searching, AP homework, and multiple extracurriculars, you have become infamous for the stress you create. However, you forgot one small detail in your plot against me. I AM Michael Giovinco. Every task that is thrown in front of me I attack with a knife and fork. I eat AP work for breakfast...without milk.
You see, this summer I’ve learned the secret to coping with all the work. On a trip to Lafayette, an admissions officer told me that the most important part of this year is to remember that I am still a kid. Even though there are a million things that can crowd my mind this year, at least I can fall on the concept of having fun.
Now that the idea of fear is gone, time to talk about anticipations I have. This year will test me, in the most literal way, on everything that I pretty much suck at. Okay, maybe “suck” isn’t a good word, but in my opinion I am not as proficient in these fields as I should be:
1.Time management- AP Chem, Lang, and US are probably the classes that create the most massive work load. On top of my courses, I also have Student Council, Drama, and a few other extracurriculars to attend and think about constantly. This year’s juggling act will push on the limits of my clowning capabilities.
2.Writing- Yes, this concept should be considered elementary at this point. I’m still not very strong when it comes to writing though. It seriously sickens me that my typical essay grades are 4’s and not 6’s. Hopefully with the help of this class I will rocket launch myself onto a higher level of writing skills.
3.Singing-Does this even count? Who knows. This year, I want to become a better singer. Les Mis rehearsals got me to sing a bit better than mediocre, but this year I want blow everyone away at drama with my voice. Hopefully with some practice I’ll be able to land the character I want in Grease. He will force me into a better voice.
Obviously my weakest areas will become my strongest if all goes well this year. I am willing to work my patootie off to find myself improving, it’s a good thing because I will be forced to anyway.
Not to be too cocky, but I feel confident walking into this year. I am not afraid of the college process because I know I’m where I should be academically and I’ve seen many schools already. Even when times get tough I have the best friends that a soulless ginger like myself could ask for. I know that we’ll come home from this year-long war with many purple heart awards and war wounds. Together we’ll pull all nighters as we steak out our targets and we shall improvise, adapt, and overcome any obstacle in our path. My only complaint is that I’m not an extremely athletic person, I can beat my stomach like a drum. I don’t need to be athletic though, I’m an artsy guy, and that drum has become VERY useful over the years!
I can’t wait to see how much you have to offer me, Junior year. You may be a long road, but I’ll follow the yellow brick road right down to end where the Wizard will be waiting with 4’s and 5’s on the AP exams and a righteous summer break.
Sincerely,
Michael G
“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” ~Moliere
To George: Thanks!And I also agree that this is the most difficult year of our high school careers. And I know all of our hard work will pay off. I do hope that you can be more social, as weird as that sounds! I like that you said something along the lines of being able to manage time is the key to life. I agree on some level, i think that punctuality is very important, however I don't think it's they key to life, but that's just my opinion! Just stay focused and great things will come!
ReplyDeleteTo Mikey G: I like how you have a list of things if you will, that you need to work on. Singing should definately be on that list haha, but seriously your determination will undoubtedly get you far. I have no doubt in my mind that you eat AP work for breakfast...... without milk! I admire your confidence and humor in serious matters. The person from Lafayette gave you great aadvice and I'm glad I you posted that, I think it gives a bit of peace of mind!
ReplyDeleteTo Cole:
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed that analogy to the light at the end of the tunnel. It's a great way to look at this year. My advice to everyone in this class would be to find multiple lights throughout the year to work towards. It's like having the stars in class, it will give you hope to make it through the day. Oh and I learned to not trust everyone else's review of the classes we'll take. Everyone said Gov was hard but we all seemed to do pretty well in that class.
To Janel: I understand completely about getting better at writing, as shown in my post. ^^ I also think that this year WILL be a lot more difficult than previous years, but our past teachers have prepared us well for it. I have to disagree a bit on your last paragraph though Janel, I'm pretty content with life, but I always know there's more room to improve. I like to think of myself as "good" and constantly "better."
To Garret: I forgot about the fact that soon everone will be moving their separate ways. It's one of the main reasons why this year needs to be about "being a kid" like I said in my post. Maybe I'll see you running against me for Stuco president at the end of this year! It's on now. My advice for you is to get a bit ahead this weekend on some work. Who knows, you may break your old habit.
Oh gosh, GarrettI i'm right with you on the whole should have gone first thing. But anyway, I've been told more than several times that junior year will be the most challenging. I've heard it from peers, my parents, and my guidance counselor but every that fact is brought up i'm reminded of several things. First of how before every grade level i've ever entered I was told that it was going to be so much harder than the one before, and shockingly it never was too much for me to take. Second it reminds me of that one day in Mrs. Rocks class when the AP gov kids came in and told us gov was so hard, we shouldn't take it and a lot of other mumbo jumbo about how it's absolutely ridiculous. But none of it was true, especially now that we have gotten started I'm already feeling better about it. Personally I do expect this year to be very challenging but I don't expect to want to chop my own head off. I'm pretty confident that as long as I keep focused i should be able to get passed this year without too much trouble, I mean its already what the seventh day of school? I don't know about anyone else but times already flying.
ReplyDeleteThis year from Lang i'm hoping to get a four on the AP test and increase my SAT scores by a pretty significant amount (like 250 pts). But aside from grades I really hope to lean something about my self in terms of who I am as a writer and what I might want to do with my life after high school, (because i've been told just going to college and taking what ever class suits my fancy is unacceptable) and even find out a little more about myself. In general for my junior year id really just like to get on some sort of a routine at home as far as going straight to homework and working until its at least 75% finished and keeping up with my chores and family stuff.
My biggest fear this year, and every year, is failure. Failure to pass a class, failure to achieve as highly as i'm expected to, failure to advance with my music, or failure to take away from my classes and experinces what was meant to be taken. But hopefully that doesn't happen especially in a year as crucial as this one.
The only goals I really hope to achieve this year are success and happiness. Which is what I wrote on my star, but I can say pretty confidently that I am very close to where I want to be as a person, a student, a daughter, and as a friend. So aside from getting that 4, I am where I want to be and I know this because i'm truly happy and sometimes thats all that really matters and if i'm happy even with all the things I have going on i'm doing at least one thing right.
To Cole, I really enjoy reading what you have to say and when i read through your post the first time, I was feeling something like bobby was today after he had to present right after Schuyler. But i have to agree the only physical thing I think i'm afraid up is too many late nights, not because i mind staying up but because my parents tend to get on my case when i'm up at like 1:30 doing homework.
ReplyDeleteTo George, I think "Superstudent" is a very accurate term as far as where I'd like to be, it also has a very nice ring to it. And i completely agree when it comes to becoming more social, it makes me thing about this picture i saw on one of the numerous websites i frequently use, and its a triangle with the words Good grades, enough sleep, social life in each corner then at the top it said "Welcome to AP: pick two".
To Mike, hey I eat AP work for breakfast too :) and I really admire that you want to better your voice, its never to late and would really help you as far as getting parts because you're a very good actor. If you ever need help with that I love singing.
Before I begin with junior year, I'll start at the start of my academic career...
ReplyDeleteI started to be in the “smart” classes at about fourth or fifth grade, but everything was still simple and basically hand-fed to me. For some reason, my aversion to “Language Arts” developed in the sixth or seventh grade, and it still lingers inside me. That weakness for the English language showed up in my grades that remained B’s until a strange burst of creativity in eighth grade. Upon arriving to high school, everything got much more difficult, but I still kept up with my teachers’ lessons. Now I’m going into my junior year, and I came to terms with hardship and difficulty last summer, so I have nothing to fear. I understand that this class, along with my other three AP classes, will not be easy to overcome, but overcome it I shall.
I chose the classes I chose because I wanted the challenge, and possibly the rewards, of taking AP classes. Unfortunately, this decision may bring me my first grade lower than a B since possibly grade school. This year can bring happy faces, sad faces, so-tired-that-I-can’t-stay-awake faces, and, hopefully, at the end of the year a proud face. AP English Language and Composition, I can well imagine, will prepare me to be able to read, write, and analyze better than I ever thought possible, and if I must do 100 blogs, essays, and reading logs to be better at those things, so be it. Stress is not an option. I vowed myself to not become worked up over school and have coronaries over petty assignments, while not neglecting my school work.
Admittedly, reaching for the stars isn’t really my thing. I’m pretty comfortable with myself and where I am in life. To my disadvantage, the SAT’s are still not done by my unenthusiastic hands, which I should have done during my freshman year while I was taking Algebra two. Other than the SAT’s, I am pretty much set academically. I have a pretty good GPA and a bunch of really awesome friends, so I have no problems with anything in my life currently.
I think we’re going to have a terrific year!
Tom- It totally slipped my mind to include taking the SAT's. I definitely need to do that this year. Glad you brought it up actually, kind of reminds me to get on the ball with that..
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ReplyDeleteTo Cole: You said that you could do better physically or whatever, and I think that since we're only sixteen, we all have plenty of room and time to improve ourselves. Also, I am very glad to be in your small circle of friends because you're awesome, just like everyone else in that group.
ReplyDeleteTo George: I think that if you take any AP class, you are a "superstudent." An AP class can take over your life, and I know that you have FIVE! That may seem like overkill, but if you succeed, you can be that much ahead of the game we call "school" compared to all of your other classmates. Good luck with them!
To Mikey: The advice that person told you is almost what my mom told me, word for word. I'm not going to become too stressed by a simple assignment when there are bigger things to do. As for the all-nighters, I'll be right there on Facebook with ya, buddy.
To Garret: No problem dude. I forgot about them too before this blog.
ReplyDeleteBased strictly on the impressions made during the first week of my junior year, I can already decipher that this year of high school will be the most stressful. The work will not be overwhelmingly arduous in nature; rather the volume of work will prove difficult to manage at times. Quantity is going to be the largest road block to circumvent. To do this, planning my work habits will be requisite to succeeding in this class as well as in my other three AP courses. Dedication will prove to be a valuable trait, while procrastination will be completely unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to describe what I would get out of these classes, I would phrase it in the following way, “hard-earned-knowledge”. It’s our choice if we want to succeed and benefit from these AP courses. There will of course come the time of great adversity; in which decisions will have to be made with prudence. Many of us for example are taking on the challenge of three to five AP courses. Decisions will have to be made on where our talent lies. I for one know that I am bound for engineering and am focusing primarily on succeeding in the math and sciences area. I believe we will all collectively develop together and learn where we will be headed in the foreseeable future. Junior year is a time of rapid growth for us mentally, and a path will start to fall into place. My expectations for this class are that I will be prepared come that time when AP tests start sneaking up on us, and that my abilities will be enhanced for college. That’s all one can really ask of these courses. As for junior year in general, I can only hope that I am able to manage all this work and carve out time to enjoy myself every now and again. I feel like this will be possible, and junior year will prove to be both beneficial and invigorating.
I don’t have any fears for this class; or rather I will not address any fears I might possibly have for this class. I believe the best way to approach this class is to just charge in and take it by the reigns and keep control. If there is any doubt or fear out the gate, it will be waiting there like a seed waiting for water, just to sprout into constricting vines that will eventually choke me out. The way I understand it, if we go in guns-a-blazin’, then we shouldn’t have any problem keeping up when the work piles up and the tasks become harder.
In terms of where I am academically, I can say that I’m not satisfied. Don’t get me wrong, I feel as though I’ve made impeccable progress, nonetheless there is always room for improvement. That’s the way I look at it; one can always do better and improve. I believe this is the code to being successful. Don’t be satisfied with what one does, keep pushing for better results. The same is true for where I am physically, socially, etc. I would wager that this is how everybody who wants to succeed feels. Junior year is just another period in time to improve, ultimately that’s what I’m here to do.
For now, I will leave you all with this quote from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Thanks for the compliments. To Tom (your comment), I know most of us has 50+ years ahead of us, so yes, there's plenty of room for improvement. And to Olivia, usually staying up isn’t the problem. My parents are perfectly aware that work needs to get done, and they won’t get on my case if I have to stay up for whatever school-related reason. I must admit though, that your parents should get off your case. If something needs finishing, then by any means, finish it.
ReplyDeleteTo George: You said you'd like to be more social. And something about us AP kids having a hard time being social. Well, I was thinking about it, and last year was perfect for being social. AP classes didn't take up as much time as anyone thought last year, especially compared to this year. I know last year all I wanted to do was be lazy though, which is why I didn't get out much. But in terms of friends, I couldn't do much better. I thought "social" was referring to friends, as opposed to how often we get out. Not sure what you thought it referred to, so I can't accurately comment. I just wanted to throw my two cents in.
To Mike: I must say, I was a little surprised when you made a list with numbers and all. I’m not too sure why, either. All I thought was that it would’ve been a good idea if I’d done that myself. Oh well. I also liked how you were talking to junior year in the beginning. It was also a good idea to cut it off before it got too hammy.
To Tom: I had a similar problem with writing. I actually didn’t start writing well until 10th grade, when I realized that I could write any way I wanted to, instead of making it sound bland and dry for whatever reason. That’s when essays became miraculously easier, which made, and will make my life easier in the long run.
In all honesty, I have been dreading my junior year since the day I stepped foot into the dusty, cramped halls of Oakcrest High School. Oh, the stories I’ve been told about this year. I’ve heard that between SAT’s, college applications, Lang, and all other classes piled on top of that is enough to drive one to the brink of insanity. I’ve heard that if this year isn’t your most academically impressive year, you might as well kiss all hopes of a decent college goodbye. I’ve heard countless horrible things about this year, and this class, that had me shaking in my shoes (well, my flip flops) as I picked up my schedule on September 6th.
ReplyDeleteAs it turns out, I’m actually taking a liking to all of my classes and teachers. I feel like the perfection of my schedule and my newly found Facebook-less-ness will factor into this being a rather successful year. Naturally, I expect the work load to get larger and the demand of my AP classes to grow, but I know that if I focus, I can manage everything without having the urge to pull all my hair out. I know that this course especially will be a challenge for me because I’m basically a dud of a writer, but I love facing a new challenge. From what I’ve heard, I’ll be pulling all-nighters more and more frequently, but I’m hoping that coming out of this class will give me the skills I need to be an effective and interesting writer which is definitely something I must hone if I intend on doing even moderately well in my college years. I am most scared of being able to juggle everything – Lang, Calc, US History, pet ownership, a thriving relationship, healthy friendships, and other pointless teenage stuff – and still have time to get a few hours of sleep a night. This class, I’ve been told, isn’t necessarily challenging in its material, but its time consumption. Time and I have never been on very good terms, but hopefully with a little more self-discipline, we can strive towards a functioning acquaintanceship. (Friendship might be pushing it.)
Academically, I’m partially disappointed in myself because freshman year, I was sixteenth or so in our class, which included the kids who now attend Cedar Creek. With their absence, I have dropped down to twenty-third. That is not ideal for me, but my goal is to be ranked in the top fifteen of our class and if I can achieve that, I’ll feel accomplished come the end of this year. (Even if I don’t meet my expectations for myself in this class.) Socially, I couldn’t be happier. I have a wonderful boyfriend and fabulous friends who keep me functioning and sane. Asking for anything more would be selfish of me. Physically, I’m not concerned with any of that. I’m comfortable with myself, and that’s all that matters. I know that this year will go smoothly with some faith and a positive outlook, so I am excited for it to really kick off!
To Cole: Agreed with what you said about how grades might be suffering a bit this year. It will most likely come down to which classes we want to succeed in the most. I also agree that this year won’t be difficult in terms of work, but rather how much we receive. I also share your thought in which I feel like free-time will be significantly decreased. Free-time will be determined by how hard we work towards creating free-time.
ReplyDeleteTo Michael G: I share your confidence in this year. That’s the way to go about it! I’m sure you will improve in writing, it just takes practice, and you are sure to get a lot of that in this class. I strongly agree that time-management will become the most important skill to develop this year. Doing so will allow us to carve out that free time we all deserve and will need this year. Hopefully all that fun you preach about will be realized.
To Olivia: Success and Happiness, that’s what it’s all about. That’s why we are here. I also shared in the recollection of the time when the Gov kids came into Rock’s classroom and pretty much warned that this will be a ridiculously arduous class. Of course, that was all fairy tales. A year later we were all told to believe that AP Lang was a horror story. So far this doesn’t seem to be the case. I feel like we can all pull through in the end.
To Ted: I couldn't agree more on the whole "guns-a-blazin'" comment you made, (which made me laugh) but don't be so hard on yourself. True, there always is room for improvement, but don't ever be dissatisfied with yourself or think you're unworthy of an old-fashioned pat on the back. If we don't appreciate what we've succeeded in doing, how can we expect anyone else to?
ReplyDeleteTo Cole: I'm a little creeped out. It's like you were in my mind or something when I read your little blurb about senior year being right around the corner and expecting the worst this year. The way I see it, if you're prepare for the worst, you can never be disappointed in the outcome.
To Giovinco: YOU CRACK ME UP EVEN IN WRITING! Woo, you're a funny kid. On a more serious note, I admire your dedication and confidence. No, I envy it. It's refreshing to see that one of us (I didn't read everyone's posts, so I'm sorry if this applies to you and I'm not acknowledging that) isn't the least bit worried about becoming a headless chicken with this insane workload of ours. Keep up with that attitude, kiddo and I can see you sailing through this year with ease. :)
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ReplyDeleteFor Olivia: You made me remember that time when the Sophomores can into Mrs. Rock's classes are said something along the lines of "AP Gov is really hard, you might want to think about not taking it", and people have been saying that every year since. As you pointed out, every year is harder than the last. Also, every time you look back, it always seems really easy. I just hope that I will be able to look back on this year and think that it was worth it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was just a wee freshman, the upperclassmen warned me of the horrors that lay ahead in my high school career. In my past two years at Oakcrest, I have been told many times of the frequent sleepless nights and lack of of social life caused by the hellish junior year. I definitely won’t doubt that junior year will be the most difficult year of high school. I believe the rumors are for the most part true. I don’t think I’ll be deprived of sleep and outside contact all the time, but I probably will be most of the time. These things don’t really make me happy of course, but I’m not surprised at all. I’ve always had to do a lot of homework, and I haven’t had a healthy sleep schedule since elementary school anyway. Hard work isn’t anything that I haven’t experienced before. This year, there’ll just be more of it. (A LOT more of it, actually.) I absolutely knew what I would be getting into when I signed up for four AP classes, and I’m ready for it. I didn’t let the scary rumors drive me away from accomplishing my goals, and I’m proud of that.
ReplyDeleteThis year, the list of things I’d like to accomplish is extensive. I would improve everything about myself if I could. Even as I write this, I feel like my writing could be better. On the bright side, I believe that AP Lang will help me a long way. Of course, I’d also like to do well on all of my AP tests, and improve my SAT score. Moreover, I want to improve my drawing skills, and draw more often if possible. Also, as I say every year, I would like to finally stop procrastinating so much and stop being so lazy. I think this could actually happen this year, because I know I’ll have to shape up if I want to survive junior year. Something I’m really aiming for is to decide what college and major I want after I graduate high school. Overall, I hope that the heavy work load and stress I will face this year will strengthen me and prepare me for the future.
I have a few fears for this year. Like many others, I fear becoming overwhelmed with all the work and dropping an AP class. I hope I will manage to stay determined and be able to accomplish my goals. I also fear that by the end of the year, I still won’t know what major I want to study after high school. The pressure to decide from my parents gets stronger and stronger by the day, and soon enough I’ll be graduating. Despite my worries, I feel like I will make it through everything somehow, and that if I keep my head up and keep on trying, everything will fall into place. (This might be a childish thought, but optimism never hurts.)
Although I may have a ton of goals, I’m not necessarily unhappy with myself. It’s just that I’m a perfectionist, and everything could be better in some way. I’m actually pretty satisfied with my grades and my class rank of 11. However, it would be very nice if I could be in the top 10 of my class and stay there. I’m pretty satisfied with myself socially, as I’m blessed to be surrounded with a ton of amazing friends all school day. If I make new friends this year, it’d be even better. However, I’d like to see my friends who don’t go to Oakcrest more often. This will be difficult because of all the work I will have and usually my school work has a higher priority than hanging out with them. (If they read this, they might die a little on the inside.) As for my physical self, I’d like to stop with my internet addiction and exercise more often.
Everyone, you should work your hardest and don’t give up. Although it may not be easy, I know we can all make it through junior year in one piece. People have done it before, so there’s no reason why we can’t!
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I began my freshman year in high school, I was aware that junior year was the most challenging. With College Board’s constant emails about the importance of junior year, as well as the “advice” given from older students, it was obvious that this year would be critical. At that point in time, I simply pushed it to the back of my mind for it was a whole two years away. But little did I realize how fast that time would soar by, and now I find myself placed right in the middle of a whirlwind of work, deadlines and information.
ReplyDeleteWith both freshman and sophomore year being fairly manageable to get through, in the back of my mind, I knew sooner or later that high school was going to get significantly more difficult. Already the second week of school and I can see the work my AP teachers are demanding from me. Unlike previous years, there is no room for procrastination and one tiny slip-up could be detrimental to my grade. As the year goes on, I only expect the work to get more complicated and increase in quantity, while my free time spirals into an abyss of despair. However, since I knew this was coming, I set my expectations higher for this year. This year, I’m hoping to gain a wealth of knowledge, and not just knowledge about subjects in school, but about life as well. I truly wish that this year will prepare me for what is to come in the “real world.” Balancing all my extra-curricular activities and school will pose issues, but all the lessons about time management, handling stress and lack of sleep will be of great value to me. In addition, I’m also aiming to add more 5’s onto my AP belt. My goal is to leave high school with at least five 5's. (It’s halfway to ten!)
Needless to say, AP Lang is the subject I am going to focus on mostly. English has always been a tough subject for me, and I’ve never really fully grasped all of its concepts and rules. I’m certain that AP Lang will help me to understand the English language and how it is composed. I’m aware of the demand that goes into this class, but I know that I will leave with a plethora of information.
My whole life I’ve been an anxious person and my list of fears is never ending. Most of the fears I have are irrational, stemming from nothing in particular. As I was compiling my yearly “What I’m Afraid Of” list, I realized that my biggest for this year is that I will let myself down. I have big dreams for myself, and I know if I don’t accomplish them, I will never forgive myself. Holding myself back this year is not an option, instead I plan to attack everything that is thrown my way.
I know I may get a lot of heat for saying this, but academically, I’m not where I want to be. This is not alluding to my class rank, but to my work ethic. I try hard in school, but I know I don’t try half as hard as other people. In the years that I’ve been in school everything I’ve learned has just clicked, without me having to try hard to comprehend it. However, I think I need to put more effort into my schoolwork. This year, I’m certain my work ethic isn’t going to cut it, and I'm going to have to step it up. When it comes to my social life, I’m actually content. I’ve never been an extremely social person; I’d rather stick to myself. But the few close knit friends I have is just enough to keep me satisfied. Even though I will be focusing on the academic aspect the most, there is one personal attribute I’m eager to change. Before the end of junior year, I’m hoping that I will stop living up to other’s expectations of me for this just stresses me out. This year I want to do what’s best for me personally, without people judging me for acting out of character. Junior year is without a doubt a crucial year, and all I can wish for is that I will enjoy the ride while it lasts, because when it’s over, I’m sure I’ll miss it dearly.
To Emily: I really encourage you to continue to build on your drawing skills. Every time I see something you've drawn, I'm super impressed. It makes me feel bad about my lame stick figures! In regards to the college major issue, I'm in the same boat. I think I know what I want to major in, and then the next day I change my mind. I know that I'm allowed to go into college as undecided, but I'd like to set out a plan of attack. Hopefully by the end of the year, we'll both be able to pick something we like!
ReplyDeleteOne word correlates with the initiation of junior year and that word is.... "stress". Never before have we experienced what we are about to. For the people who took Ap classes last year, juggling 1 or 2 AP classes, along with the unfathomable amount of chores, and after school activities that we part-take in, that was child’s play; just a little taste. Now we have the courage to perhaps take 3 or 4 AP classes for junior year, adding more to the plate. Not only the AP classes but in addition, the college prep classes have to step up there work ethic as we approach closer and closer to picking our colleges, getting ready for all the standardized tests. We begin thinking of those colleges that we dream about, and we ask ourselves what they will accept. Thus, we strive to reach at least the minimum requirement or above just to get looked at by them. We join more extracurricular activities also for that same reason. During freshman and sophomore year we didn't have to worry as much, as we were just getting the feel for high school. Now is the time where most colleges look at. We are tested and tested repeatedly just to see if we are ready for the experience that college brings to us. However though stressful, the reward is worth all the effort.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I've been dreading this year ever since my start in high school. Everyone ALWAYS told me that junior year would be THE MOST arduous year and I believed them. That's probably why I’m ranting about how stressful its going to be because, I actually haven't experienced the full force of junior year yet. I bet you if I was asked this same question in a couple months I could tell you exactly how junior year is. However as of right now since it's the beginning of school, classes are really easy, we're all just playing the “re-learn” game. You know that game where you take a couple weeks to go over a couple things that you may have talked about last year(which is annoying) However, now that it's actually here I'm stressing myself out by saying to myself “I'm going to have all this work that I have to put major effort into this year.” I remember freshman year where the teachers said that they will no longer “hold any hands”, and though most decreased there hand holding they did not cut themselves off completely, This year I expect teachers to be a little harsher when it comes to work. I expect tons of work and late night homework sprees with all my AP classes. I expect this year to be the “hard” year, so that next year I can cool my jets a little ( yea right). Finally,.I EXPECT to be treated as if I was already in college. This way I won't feel completely blindsided when I actually get there.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if as soon as junior year is done, I got paid enough to pay at least a year or 2 of college, for all the work and effort that I put into it. Seeing all the Durrs's come through Oakcrest, school literally became there job as soon as junior year came around, so hey why not get paid. Ok I'm just being silly but, hey one can dream can't they. Junior year should bring a sense of “Ok” I (at the least) have an idea of what I want to do at the end of my high school career. If it hasn't done that then I think it failed you. My biggest fear is to completely bomb this year. With every passing year I feel myself getting more and more lazy but I try my hardest to fight against it. I'm the type of person who would rather have fun rather than work and I'm sure most of us are that way too. Everyday is a battle against ourselves, and as of right now I'm barely winning that war. To be honest, even as I'm typing I want to say “to hell with this, let me go play some xbox or something” however, my greatest motivator is what I want for my future. So this year to please my conflicted feelings I plan to be great in my classes and try to make them fun for myself, in addition since now we have more dates for activity buses I can stay after school more for my favorite clubs. Thus, though stressful I can have a fun junior year.
In addition, as to where I'm at now in my life, I'm pretty content with the way things are, however there is one major thing I would like to change about myself and that is my public speaking. I've noticed that I'm a very weird person when it comes to public speaking. Its only in certain classes that I can express myself and feel comfortable enough to give a great performance. For some unknown reason, those classes usually turn out to be my science classes. Each year of high school I've never had a problem speaking up or feeling nervous in those classes. Maybe it's because of the relaxed feel of the classroom, maybe its the people, maybe its the fact that we usually sing in science class (wink wink Juliana if your reading) but i would like to mirror that feel into my other classes. Maybe AP Lang will be the new class where I can relax and let it all out.
Sorry I forgot something, I had to repost
To My Junior Year,
ReplyDeleteI’ve heard that Junior year is the most challenging and time consuming year academically that I will endure. I’ve heard many happy and discouraging stories and comments in relation to this year. I am not willing to allow myself into believing everything just yet though. I want to experience this year for myself, I want to come out with my own war stories and accomplishments. I am more ready for this year than I have been for any other year in the past. I know that this year will be a challenge; I know it’s going to be hard, but I also know that I can do it. I am ready to muscle my way through this year. I am not saying that I am going to do it without stress or insanity, but I promise myself that I will stay positive and motivated. After all, this year will decide my future. It will decide my college status. It will test my strengths academically and define my character.
I’m ready for whatever this year holds, and even a little eager to see what it throws my way. My goal is to be proud of myself at the end of this year, to know that I gave everything I had into this life changing year. As for Lang, I’m enthusiastic about the year. I know that I am not the best of writers or the most ingenious person, but I am willing to accept my weaknesses for what they are and work to improve them and better the things that I am good at.
Like everyone else, I worry about not being successful. I worry that my SATs will not be up to par with the standards set by the colleges on my wish list. I worry that I will become overwhelmed with work. The key is keeping my head above water though, I suppose, and looking at the overall picture and not the minor issues that will arise. I know for sure that I want to know that I am doing my best. Letter grades and high numbers are great, but feeling like I am doing all I can is ultimate gratification to me. I am cool with where I stand socially. I have friends that I know will be there for me, and I will be there for them, and I am friendly with just about everyone. I am not afraid to make a new friend or say hello to a person that may or may not say hello back to me. I am intact with my real self and I really like cheering someone up or giving them a little reminder that they can do it.
I’m wholly ready for this year, and ready to know that I’ve accomplished one of the biggest hitches in my life.
In response to:
Olivia, I really enjoyed reading your blog. It's very honest. I agree with you about trying to establish a routine at home with homework and maintaining relationships at home and fulfilling home responsibilities.
Becca, I like your quirk. Reading yours I knew exactly whose it was before seeing the name. I admire that your voice is established in your writing. I couldn't agree more about being excited for the year to really kick off.
George, could this piece be more you? I love that your work represents you wholly. I like that you were completely honest about your expectations of yourself. I like your last paragraph best.
Morgan- You aren't kidding you are friendly with just about everyone. But i agree with what you said in worrying you won't get into the colleges that you want, but there are so many good colleges out there and no matter where you go I'm sure you'll be successful. But when the time comes you have to asses the situation, see the best option you got and go there. You'll be fine! Keep up the good work Morgan( nicest person in town).
ReplyDeleteMimi- You better start working girl if you're trying to get all those 5's. You have to remember you got a long road ahead of you, don't slow down now because after all this hard work over the years, it's gonna pay off! Don't slow down though, because the second you slip up, boom here comes Garret to take your spot in class rank :P
ReplyDeleteTo Thomas F: I'm glad about the confidence in yourself that even if you get a bad grade you can still go on. I think sometimes, especially us "AP kids" that sometimes when we get a bad grade we think its the end of the world. Just see it as a try a little harder next time and don't beat yourself up about it. As for the SAT's i still haven't taken them yet either so your not alone on that.
ReplyDeleteTo Emily D.: (Told you I would do yours) but in all seriousness, your definitely not alone on the procrastinating, if it was the old me i would have waited till about 11 pm to start typing this up. However, i think the fear of this year is forcing me to want to hand things in early. Emily your already an awesome drawer, I don't know why you need to become any better.
To Michael G: Singing does count. Anyway Mikey, time management is all of our problems. I think we as a class need to discuss this so that maybe some neat tips rub off on me. I's sure you'll improve in that area. I also think you'll improve in your singing abilities too, you have Mr. Bass he's an awesome teacher you can't go wrong. Anyway I hope you land the part you want in grease. Junior year sounds like it could be fun for you.
To Morgan
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Garret. You are super nice, like a little ball of sunshine. But I like how you aren't going to believe everything you hear, but test it out for yourself. I think this approach is better than just listening to all the horror stories. Your optimism is something I hope will rub off on me. I'm sure however that you will do great this year, you always seem to have started assignments way before anyone else. ;P
To Garret;
Gee thanks, just another thing to worry about...
Days before junior year had started, I promised myself I would try to maintain a positive attitude no matter how challenging and demanding things get. Well, it’s finally here, and based on the first week of school, I can tell junior year will be the most difficult and stressful. No doubt the stories I’ve heard about junior year are mostly true, but I will not let that deter me from my goals. As each year goes by, the workload increases and it progressively gets harder. Since I am taking 4 AP courses, I know that the copious amounts of work will be very tough to manage. But each year I’m up for it and this year will be no different. There is no room for procrastination. Time management is key for me, as I do not want to be 3000 feet under drowning in schoolwork. I see myself staying up late more often this year but it’s dedication that keeps me going.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of expectations and goals I want to accomplish this year. Lang is probably the class I have to work the hardest in this year. English isn’t my best subject but I’m certainly not opposed to it. There’s always room for improvement in my book. What I’m hoping to get out of AP lang class are better writing and critical thinking skills. Also interpreting literature better. This is crucial as I move onto college and whatever life throws at me later. Each class is so different and there’s so much knowledge and skills we can gain. I also hope to score at least 4 on my AP exams. I also hope to get an impressive score on the SATs. So far, I do like all my classes and I hope to be well-rounded in all of it.
My biggest fear this school year is falling behind on my work and my grades will soon start slipping. If that happens, I know I will beat myself up for it. I know that will probably upset my parents and family as well. I hope to keep true to my words and not procrastinate and seek help if I need to. That way, everything will seem to be more manageable. Another fear I have is not sure what I’m majoring in by this year and if choosing a college will be harder. However, I feel junior year will give me a better sense of who I am and where my passion lies.
I’m proud of my achievements so far but I’m not completely satisfied with where I am academically. My mom always tells me just do the best that you can! But I feel as though my best will never be good enough. But I know improvements can always be made. I also feel as though people are constantly judging me every time I say or do something. I’m sure if I don’t focus too much on that, I will be much more satisfied with the progress I make. As for where I am socially, I’m very happy with the group of friends I have, but I’d love to meet new people each year. To do that, I should speak up more often and get to know more people. I’m not going to let school take up my whole life and will be sure to hang out with friends every so often. To where I am physically, I should get out more often and exercise. I know I’m still young but I can’t run on that youthful energy forever!
I find it so important to always keep myself surrounded by positive people and energy. Also with hard work and dedication, I know junior year will past by as quickly as freshman and sophomore year did. It may seem like a million years from now, all those late night homework sessions will pay off! I always have that in the back of my mind no matter how impossible things may seem. Junior year is certainly not impossible, so bring it on!
To Mike G: I loved your post, it was definitely worth reading! The line “ This year’s juggling act will push on the limits of my clowning capabilities.” was really witty. Your personality really shows in your writing, and as creepy as this sounds, I could hear your voice reading your post in my mind. I know you have a lot of activities and classes to juggle, it’ll be tough. But I always thought of you as a “busy” person and you seem to have handled things well in the past. I know last year you were still one of the top people in our class even while doing Drama, Student Council, and occasionally Asian Awareness things. You’re a responsible person, and I’m sure you’ll be able to do it!
ReplyDeleteTo Olivia: I agree with you completely about how we’re always told how “next year will be harder.” I remember that day in Mrs. Rock’s class too, and the AP Gov students who talked to us made me really scared. I had even considered taking honors instead of AP. Now I look back at Gov class and it wasn’t even that hard! I’m the same with you in the fact that I don’t know yet what I want to do after high school either. On the other hand, I don’t think you should be so afraid of failure. If you fail to advance with your music this year, you still have the rest of your life to improve. You seemed determined, so I think you’ll have little trouble accomplishing your goals.
To Patrick: I loved the line “Everyday is a battle against ourselves...” I agree with you, the only person that stops you from succeeding is yourself. (For the most part, anyway.) I’m the same as you, I would rather have fun than work but I know I need to work if I want a bright future. I think most people naturally would rather have fun. But how much they truly care about their future determines how hard they’ll work. About the public speaking, just volunteer more often to speak in front of the class and you’ll eventually become more comfortable with it. Be confident, because it shows. I’m obviously no expert, but those are just some tips. And also, I know I’m good at drawing, but there’s always room to improve.
Towards the end of my sophomore year, I determined that I would no longer listen to the anecdotes about the anxieties that so many juniors before me had stared in the face. Much to the dismay of my stubbornness, it was impossible to avoid the admonitions from every former AP language, Chemistry, and History student. They asked me, “Do you have any idea what you’re getting yourself into?” or, “Aren’t you aware that you will be pulling all-nighters at least once a week?” Although the challenge was daunting, I managed to ignore their cries of warning. I approached junior year with a bit of apprehension, however, it was quickly substituted by a wave of enthusiasm for the year.
ReplyDeleteNever have an excess of strenuous classes brought me to my knees. I intend to continue the tradition. I’ve never felt overwhelmed with a class, I’ve never felt like dropping out of a class, I’ve never experienced the feeling of failing a class, and I’ve never once felt as if I reached the limit of my academic abilities. This year will assess how steadfast I can hold to that statement. I want to feel overwhelmed and I want to feel like I can no longer take the stress. Hopefully, I’ll be able to push myself to the limit this year in terms of academics. However, academics go much beyond grades to me. Although exceptional grades are pleasant; they are of little consequence to my junior year experience. The challenge of these classes is why I do it. Not for some two or three digit number on a report card. Nothing compares to the tangible euphoria of hitting the print button after hours of click-clacking on the keyboard, or the sense of pride felt when slipping that completed paper into your folder. High school enlightenment is achieved when one can realize that they are more than a ranking in a class of 350. The sense of improvement is a drug to me, and I’m an addict, I find irresistible the ecstasy of progress. I stand with optimism that this year will be a fantastic chance to progress. While the intricacies of language may not be the most important aspect of my life, they will be my best friends in lang, my little language friends and I will spend the next 140 days or so getting to know each other.
I’m hoping my year in 204 can serve as a period of introspection and enlightenment of my own self. Hell, I’ve been stumbling around this little planet for the last sixteen years trying to know everyone, maybe I’ve neglected learning about who I really am. I’m looking forward to the wonderful things I’ve heard about Lang, such as the great deal of introspection we are forced to embark upon, and I hope that Lang will help me improve myself academically as well as reflectively. I’ve made a promise to myself, and this is, to take Lang, Chemistry, History, and my other classes for what they are, to stand firmly on deck even through the toughest storm, to weather every challenge with adroitness and intelligence, and to make great strides in myself as a person.
I can undoubtedly say this will be the toughest year of my high school career. Having two sisters already graduate from oakcrest high school and have taken the same academic route as I did, I knew what I was in store for. This is the critical year of a million and one AP classes, SATS, and colleges. If there was ever a time to slack off it needed to be done either freshman or even sophomore year, because there is absolutely no room for it now. It is only the second week of school and my planner has already begged for me to stop with the ten billion assignments every night.
ReplyDeleteHowever I expected this. We’ve all heard the horror stories about staying up until at least 3 in the morning finishing AP Lang work; it simply comes with the territory. I don’t expect it to be easy. In fact, I know it won’t be easy. Like anything else in life, you must work for it. You must work hard and give it your all in order to reach success, or get that 5.
Despite the endless work I’m extremely excited for the AP Lang course. I want to learn how to write that flawless essay and master all the SAT vocab. I want to read more narratives like “Am I Blue?” (which I absolutely loved) and understand every aspect of it. In more broader terms I hope this year will help me plan out my future or at least give me a better idea of what college to attend and career to pursue.
My biggest fear is walking into senior year without a clue to what I’m doing with my life after graduation. I’ve seen so many friends and family graduate and that’s the end. Well, that’s not me. It can’t be me. Thus this year must be dedicated to planning out the rest of my life.
I do think I’m on my way there though. Academically, I know I’ve taken the courses that will help me plan ahead. Most importantly, I didn’t over do it. Yes I’ve challenged myself, but at a level that I knew I could handle. Socially and physically, I am in many clubs, activities, and sports that allows me to have fun while at the same time putting my energy to good use. I look forward to this school year and everything it will bring to me, as a student, athlete, and human being. I mean come on now, we’re finally upperclassmen !!!
Olivia: Failure is something you shouldn't be scared of. Failure can be embraced sometimes, and it can help growth. Being afraid of failing can be detrimental, however, I know you'll be successful in any venture you entertain. I'd hate to use this quote, but I feel it's appropriate, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." -FDR
ReplyDeleteCole: Loved the Saw analogy. I lol'ed. I thoroughly enjoyed reading everything you had to say. Always keeps me entertained.
Morgan: I agree with you about this year being a life-changer. Although I like to think of it as a "life guider." I love the ideals of self before grades, that made your blog really speak to me.
Junior year promises to be a lot of work, but work isn’t what scares me about my junior year. Work is necessary, it builds skills and embeds concepts; the results of this work are exactly what I’m hoping to get out of my junior year, especially in AP Lang. Grades don’t scare me either, because I’ve never struggled with grades before and even if my GPA began to bleed points, I don’t think it would bother me very much. What scares me is that I will waste the opportunities that my junior year presents. I’m terrified that I may spoil the chance for college credit an AP class provides. Scarier still is that I waste all the work I’ve done until now by blundering through the college application process, as most of the schools I’m planning on applying to will receive thousands of applications just like mine, and will reject the majority of them. So the idea that I won’t get into any of the schools I really want to go to is a real possibility. Starting off my junior year, I’m in a good place academically, except I would like to improve my work ethic somewhat. However, physically and socially I have huge room for improvement. Physically, I would like to greatly improve my performance in this year’s baseball season so that the schools I want to go to are interested me in a player, as well as a student. My social life until now has always fallen victim to sports and schoolwork, unfortunately this will have to continue, as it’s impossible to balance them all. All I want from my junior year is to make the most of the opportunities I have, so that I can go where I want to with the rest of my life.
ReplyDeleteTo Matt;
ReplyDelete"High school enlightenment is achieved when one can realize that they are more than a ranking in a class of 350." I absolutely love this quote. I think many of us, especially me, are concerned about our class ranks. I let it consume my life. Sure, it probably will have an effect on what colleges we get into, but after that it won't matter what rank you were in high school. I think it's great how you are actually challenging all the things most of us are dreading. More power to you!
Somewhere between the intimidating speeches, warning of junior year and the shaking head of a sympathetic upperclassman at the look of my schedule, I just stopped caring. I'm as serious and prepared for this year as I have been for any other. It's a shame how people let the words of others frighten them to the point where they are defeated before even beginning. By no means am I talking down the importance of this year to my future, I'm well aware of how 'real' everything is becoming. I simply want to be the reminder to all that nobody can ever step forward without any confidence. And if you think you are beaten, you are (Champion's Creed).
ReplyDeleteThat being said, everything that once seemed so far away is now so utterly within reach. SATs are weeks away, every other conversation I have is about college, it's here. It's now time to see how successful my ambitious nature has proved to be. All of my life I've been setting goals and hoping and wishing... I'm pretty excited to see where I fall. As for this year, I'm expecting more work, I'm expecting less time to myself (not that I ever had much to begin with). It's all about adjusting to the circumstances and not allowing myself to become overwhelmed. I'm expecting to be challenged, pushed out of my comfort zone. The weird thing about me, however, is that I can enjoy that kind of rattling from time to time. Simplicity is bland and consistency is boring.
As for where I stand academically/physically/socially, I'm pleased at times, but not content. I always strive for perfection, or at least improvement. That sentiment is mostly geared to my athletics. I have a drive like no other when it comes to sports. There is nothing that compares to the adrenaline rush of a victory and nothing as painful as a harsh loss. Before I geek out on that subject any more, all I can say is that I am competitive as much as I am ambitious, and my dedication in sports is just as affluent in school. Socially, I’m comfortable. So many people have walked in and out of my life that I’m starting to realize that I can usually only depend on myself. That’s not to say I haven’t cultivated and kept a handful of valuable friendships. Like everyone else, I’ve run into people that I look back on in regret, and have had a few friendships that ended for the worst, but I’ve accepted that as just being life. I’m excited for this year as well as for what it brings, and for right now that’s the best that I can do.
To Olivia: Thanks, I'll definitely take up that offer!
ReplyDeleteTo everyone else who commented on mine: Thank you guys! I had fun with this blog post. It seemed too easy to write it.
THIS IS ASHLEY H.'s POST, HER COMPUTER WON'T ALLOW HER TO POST IT FOR SOME REASON:
ReplyDeleteBased on the past two weeks of school, I can already tell you that this is definitely going to be the toughest, most demanding year of high school, but then I already figured that. It’s common knowledge that this is the most important year as far as your grades and your extra curriculars go, for college reasons. You can’t take AP classes, especially one like this one (hardest class at Oak from what I’ve heard) and not be prepared for an even tougher time.
I expect that this year will bring loads of work requiring good time-management skills, and I expect to grow-as a student in general and as a writer. I’m definitely expecting more than a few sleepless nights (bring on THOSE fun times.) I’m expecting that this year will, for the most part, prepare me for college.
As far as what I’m hoping to get out of Lang, I guess I’m looking for better writing skills and a better ability to do work…without procrastinating. I’m hoping that this class will teach me how to manage a heavy work (and probably stress) load.
As for junior year I’m pretty much looking to do as well as I can in the classes I’m taking, make some college decisions, retake the SAT’s, and have fun at prom once all of that craziness is out of the way. I want to gain my flexibility back (it seems to have taken a brake recently…) so that I’ll be able to do a split again for dance. I’m going to be aiming for 4’s or above on my AP tests this year…we’ll see how that goes. I’m definitely looking forward to finishing the bulk of my graduation requirements, which promises a mostly easy and stress-free senior year.
My fears about Lang are probably the same as a lot of peoples; I’m afraid that I either won’t be able to handle the work/stress load, or I won’t do well. School has always been pretty easy for me until about…last year (which still wasn’t that bad). Basically, I’m afraid that I’ll fail-at this class or at some other class so that I can keep up with this one. (And after reading everyone else’s fears…don’t I feel original? We’re all falling under that typical AP kid stereotype where the worst thing we can imagine is failing…)
Well okay, I’m also afraid that I just won’t get the whole interpretation thing. It has definitely happened to me before-we get some paper or story or novel to read, and I write down what I think about it and what I think it means and why the author wrote what they wrote, only to come in the next day and find out that I was either completely off track or that 17 other kids in class wrote it way better/were way more imaginative. In other words, they make me feel pretty dumb. I guess that’s what I get for taking AP and being in class with all the smartest kids in school. I’m hoping to keep this to a minimum, but based on the RRLs and even some of the posts on here I can already tell you that it isn’t looking to good.
*too
The only real fear I have about this year as a whole is that I won’t be able to figure out which colleges I want to apply to, especially considering that applications should start being sent this summer. My main problem with figuring out which colleges I want to apply to is that I still don’t know what I want to do, and it’s pretty hard to pick a place to get a degree when you don’t know which degree you want, and certain schools only offer or specialize in certain degrees.
As of the end of last year I’m pretty content where I am academically, I made good grades but didn’t make school my whole life (something that will probably go mostly out the door this year). Socially you can always have more friends as far as I’m concerned, but I’m where I want to be as far as what kind of friends I have. Physically I guess I’d like to get back in shape and start running again, which I haven’t been doing due to laziness, but other than that I have no real complaints. Here’s to hoping for a good junior year, where expectations are met and fears are unnecessary!
ReplyDeletekay hold on just my comments left
Garret: I like what you said about the whole procrastination thing (that pretty much describes me to a tee), and I definitely agree with you about the whole sports and getting involved issue. I think you make a pretty great class president, but if you want to go for gold as stu-co president, I think that’s great-good luck!
(hopefully that wasn't too after-school-special of me...)
Mikey: “I AM Michael Giovinco. Every task that is thrown in front of me I attack with a knife and fork. I eat AP work for breakfast...without milk.” Hahahaha wow, Way to be dramatic. Good luck with that whole without milk thing, I’ve heard that AP work is pretty dry and hard to swallow without it. Haha. Anyways, count me in for those Facebook fun fests during any all nighters. I’ll probably end up hitting you up for help/advice like I always do-thanks for that by the way!
Olivia –I totally hear you on the parent front as far as staying up for school goes. My mom is pretty good about the whole staying up for school work stuff, but my dad doesn’t seem to get it. He tells me a lot that if it’s not done by a certain time then I should just turn in what I have. This is usually answered with a blank look followed by a “don’t you know me at all” thought. I’m one of those all or nothing people.
Mimi: “I realized that my biggest for this year is that I will let myself down.” I like the way you said this, I feel the same way.
Matt M: I agreed with you in pretty much every aspect. I think we touched on a lot of the same topics and feelings...I'm so glad that not only you, but the entire class has vocalized similar expectations for Lang and that just makes me excited for what this class will bring!
ReplyDeleteBecca A: I haven't told you this yet but you have my full respect for deleting your Facebook. You go girl! Even if we are all pulling all-nighters (which we mostly likely won't with a hint of time management), we'll be in it together! So i hope you feel a greater sense of security knowing you aren't alone!
Amanda: I admire how your goals are more straightforward and numerical while mine will never cease to be the old "to do better!" , "to be better!" I think you've walked into this year with the right attitude and we all seem to be expressing similar feelings towards this year.
To Tom: I agree about the hand feeding in grade school. The classes were so easy that I got Bs, especially in English as well. In eighth grade the only "smart" class i was in was algebra, which was a joke. I don't think that grade/middle school properly prepares students for higher education including high school.And about the SATs dont worry about them, use the trick Costal told us, relax, and you'll do fine!
ReplyDeleteJHONATAN G. HAD THE SAME PROBLEM ASHLEY HAD, THIS IS HIS POST:
ReplyDeleteJunior year is by far the most demanding and onerous year of high school, it’s full of late-night homework, three hour dreams and depressing moments. Well that’s what most people would make of it; I would like to think that it’s just another year full of learning that will include a few extra homework and more tedious assignments. However this isn’t my imagination and I know the difficulty this year conveys with it since it has a mesh of very important classes and tests. Junior year I expect to have a bundle of homework lying around my bed stand waiting to be done, a computer that will be filled with hundreds of empty word documents waiting to be started, this year is going to be tough, it is going to be difficult and I expect to be under pressure almost the whole time. But I also perform the best when I’m under pressure, and I’m usually very happy while under it, I don’t know if it’s the sense of excitement of trying to accomplish something that’s hard or thinking of the things I will know by the time I’m done.
I have switched my goal since last year, because of its difficulty, my goal last year for my career through high school was to learn mandarin or Arabic, and I picked Arabic, but as soon as I got past lesson one on Rosetta stone I fell into insanity. So this year my major goal is to perfect my language skills, English out of my two languages is the faulty one. While Spanish is becoming a thing of the past and if I could get them both on the same level that would be excellent. This year like any other year, I expect that I will not get the same results as the previous but I will accomplish more and I will learn more from it. I also expect that this year I will in some form stop procrastinating and become more organized. I would also like to think that my hand writing will improve which it never does, but it’s a goal to reach for.
My biggest fear for junior year is that I will not be able to enjoy it, I fear the time will pass by quickly and I cannot take one breath to see the beauty of life around me. I am one of those people that still believe that the present is more important than the future and that you should take the most from every single minute you spend. Speaking of fears since around 3rd grade I have had a minor fear of public speaking since at that time I did not speak English correctly and I had a difficult time pronouncing words. While since then I have had that same problem but this year one of the things I want to do is to leave that in the past and start presenting well without any problems. Temptation is another fear of mine. Temptation of taking the easy way out and not challenge myself, temptation to do something more enjoyable then to sit down for two hours to do an assignment, temptation to procrastinate, temptation this year seems like the mother of all evils. Life isn’t perfect so I will try to get rid of my fear. I am happy how I see myself socially and academically. I have a small group of friends that have the same interests as me even the radical foreign ideals that are taboo here in the USA like calling soccer football. My academic status is ok, I feel it is really important but I shouldn’t stress about it or else it would decrease and I will only become more worried. While the way I look physically doesn’t really matter to me I know I could do better however I would rather spend my time reading a book or enjoying life.
To Patrick Durr, “expect this year to be the “hard” year, so that next year I can cool my jets a little ( yea right). Finally,.I EXPECT to be treated as if I was already in college. This way I won't feel completely blindsided when I actually get there.” That Is the way I truly want to feel and I’m happy you feel that way too, school isn’t easy but trying to have good attitude towards it isn’t either, and looking at the positives of having harder classes especially this, is essential.
ReplyDeleteTo George, I would have to agree that one of the most important things in school is to grow as an intellectual and that’s the way we should all look at it, not as something in the way. In fact life should be about living it and learning from it. The sad thing is most people don’t see it as that, they see it as an obstacle to a better place.
To Theodore, I really like this statement in the beginning of your response “Quantity is going to be the largest road block to circumvent. To do this, planning my work habits will be requisite to succeeding in this class as well as in my other three AP courses. Dedication will prove to be a valuable trait, while procrastination will be completely unacceptable” I feel as that is a perfect example to all (most) our problems and habits.
Those are his replies
To Jhonatan;
ReplyDeleteYour mention of temptation reminded me of a quote I found when doing my Lit term project. Oscar Wilde said, "I can resist anything, but temptation." Sure, it's very tempting to give everything up, but think of how rewarding it will be when you finish what you set out to do. I also agree with this passage, "I fear the time will pass by quickly and I cannot take one breath to see the beauty of life around me." I sort of hit on it on my post, but you do a much better job of encompassing the feeling I was going for. Before we know it, this year will be over! I'm scared that if I blink, I'll miss out on something important. Oh! And kudos to you for wanting to learn different languages.
A lot of people seem to have the same problem. HERE'S SCHUYLER'S POST:
ReplyDeleteGod, I’ve heard from so many people, with such finality, such INEVITIBILITY that ‘this next year’s gonna be a different level allllltogether, boy howdy’ that you’d think it was the 11th commandment or something, or that there was a little wizard that watches me from out of closets and ranks up the difficulty whenever I’m having too easy of a time.
I’ve only ever thought work is work. All work is work, more or less. People tell you what they expect, what they want you to do, and then you either do it or spend the whole day laying on your back waving your arms and legs in the air. I don’t think that AP Lang is so substantially different than, say, building a house, or rigging a ship. If we have proper instruction and follow said instructions things will get done. That’s all I’ve ever done, and when I’ve done it diligently I get the good grades and when I’ve spent my whole day lying around I get the bad grades. And this thing about college.
These AP classes are, what, basically college classes, right? But if I’m going to have to do these college classes eventually, which I definitely hope I’ll do, why is it such a big deal if I do them NOW instead of later? Am I not the same Schuyler I’ll be in college? Will the same heart not beat within me? Will I walk onto the campus and find out suddenly that, sweet Jesus, I can fly!! I doubt it. Maybe I’m oversimplifying this, though. Probably. Oh well.
I’m hardly qualified to cast such opinions, really. I’d advise everyone not to trust me. I know I hardly ever listen to anyone else, or at last anyone who’d assured me that ‘that next year’ was gonna knock me out and spit in my teeth. Was that to my detriment? Maybe. At this point it doesn’t matter, I suppose. Lots of things end up being inconsequential in the end. Okay, expectations? Eh, I want to learn stuff. This is key. I can get straight Fs and a -3 on the AP test for all I care, and if I come away as Schuyler, Master of the Written Word I can tell you now it will all be worth it. Same for all my classes.
To Matt:
ReplyDeleteYour bravery is inspiring, and I love what you said about the joy of finishing an essay after hours of work. I also think you’ll agree that the joy of finishing these essays isn’t hurt by the promise of finally getting to sleep. Although it makes me overwhelmingly sad to think that we won’t be able to share our witty repartee with others in Lang this year (they don’t know what they’re missing), it should still be an awesome year.
To George:
Honestly, you’re insane. Five AP classes in addition to the huge amount of effort I know you put into swimming is a drain I know I couldn’t handle. But I don’t say this to discourage you, I just want to make sure that you are aware of just how impressed I am by what you’re doing. I know you’ll succeed, and even exceed your expectations for this year, because I know you have the work ethic necessary to do just that. Good luck this year and I look forward to seeing just how far you can go.
To Olivia:
What you say about the tremendous buildup of the difficulty of these classes inevitably leading to a let down is something I agree with wholeheartedly. It also makes me wonder, how much of the rumors about this class and its level of difficulty are simply replications of rumors from the year before? And how much of the initial difficulty of AP Lang comes from whatever fear exists at the beginning of the class? Either way it’s good to know someone else isn’t worried.
Schuyler cont'd.
ReplyDeleteI come to school to LEARN, not get good grades. Both would be nice, but we’ll see. I’m not really scared of anything, though, because at my core I think I really, truly believe that everything will get done, if only because it always got done before. If there’s one thing I’m looking forward to in Lang it’s the introspection. I do that stuff all the time on my own, now it’s actually good for something! Awesome.
Am I where I want to be? I’m not exactly sure where I want to be but if I had to wager a guess I’d say no, I’m probably really not at all. Or maybe I only mean that objectively. I mean, obviously I’m a far shout from Arnold Schwarzenegger the socialite, but I’ve never really cared. I think that’s my biggest flaw, right there, though, as well. I just find it hard to care. Apathy seems to be consuming my body like some monstrous leech. I have to put every iota of my being into convincing myself that the smallest exertion of effort is worth it. If I had to name something that would be the biggest impediment to my school success it would be that guy, right there. I have to admit my grades would probably benefit quite well if I could ever find any scrap of motivation to do, well, ANYTHING. But I dunno, I wonder if this is just a teenager thing. If it isn’t, well… I don’t really care.
Truthfully, I imagined this blog post as a much more concerted, organized effort. Oh well.
Michael, see, these are the traits I envy in you. The ability to make plans and then carry out those plans, or at least delude yourself into thinking you can, hahaha. But no, seriously, I dunno, I don’t think I’ve ever made a plan in my life. And on a more serious note, confidence is the best thing, or one of the best things, to have when you’re going into something. So yah, I think you’ll do well.
Ted, I like your charging in strategy, but maybe only because it so closely resembles the strategy I’ve been using for quite a while, which goes along to the tune of ‘ooze in and do the work, and then just see what happens.’ I admire your ambition. You too I think will do well.
Nyamekye, I gotta say I rolled my eyes a little when I heard you weren’t satisfied with your academic standing, but I figure it’s that kind of discontent with the amount of effort you put in, even though the amount you HAVE put in has yielded such great results that will push you into the ranks of the elites, so good luck on it.
Well, of course like everyone's said already, junior year will obviously be the most difficult and most important of any previous or future year in high school. Other than the warnings of AP Lang, I'm not sure really what to expect of this school year. You can't really listen to any one's opinion when it comes to which classes to take. I've realized that it all depends on your work ethic, and how you'll go about representing yourself in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest concern for this year will be AP Lang. I don't really consider myself a good writer unless I'm writing about sports, which isn't often. I also have a really poor work ethic which I hope to change because of the demands of my AP classes. I'm eager to continue working in US History because it's a course we already have a bit of prior knowledge. I'm not sure what to expect from Pre-Calc because it's a totally different type of math than your basic shapes or variable problems. AP Macroeconomics is a course that I can't wait to keep working in. I hope to major in economics so this class will definitely help me figure out if I really do want to major in it.
There are a plethora of things I hope to learn from AP Lang. I can't do anything without better time management and a better work ethic. Hopefully, I learn how to do each of these in this class. It's been a problem for years and like Garret, I always say I'm going to correct it. Let's just say that a couple weeks into a school year, I get lazy and just stop being organized. I'd also like to learn how to be a better writer and reader. From third grade up until...8th grade or so, I was an avid reader and always had a book on me. Then technology and Facebook consumed my life and all I read now are online sports articles or sports magazines (though I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing). Last but not least, I hope to gain SAT points by taking AP Lang. With the credentials that I have now, I believe that I can get into a Rutgers, or a TCNJ; if my SAT scores were a big higher, I'd get in no problem.
As to whether or not I'm where I want to be- I can say that I pretty much am for the exception of my grades. I know I have the ability to be a great student but as previously stated, my work ethic sucks. Socially and physically I think I'm doing very well and hope that continues.
Connie - Your opening statement is the epitome of how I feel. I have no intentions of dropping out of any of my classes and don't plan on it at all throughout the year no matter how many assignments are given.
Matt- I feel the same way about a class never being too much for me too handle. Do I procrastinate a lot? You know the answer, Matt. But have a I ever felt overwhelmed with the amount of work that was given? The answer is definitely no.
Kendall- I completely agree with your comment about after high school. We won't be "babyed" around anymore. I don't know whether I'll be happy that people will stop telling me things that I already know, or scared when I don't actually know something.
When I first entered the refreshing halls of Oakcrest for the first time as a mere freshman, I knew nothing about it. Well except for the terrifying stories that my sister would tell me. She would tell me of how incredibly tough the workload for her honors classes were. She also introduced me to the phrase “all-nighter” for the first time. So, obviously I entered my freshman year with many fears and worries. I didn’t know how I was going to survive with TWO honors classes instead of one. But I did. Shortly after that, came sophomore year, this is the year where I would have my first AP class. And of course I could always depend on my good ol’ sister to scare me before I even started my year. This time she shared some scary stories about notes, essays, and journals. Oh my! I was definitely sure that this year would be the most challenging, and again wasn’t sure if I would survive. But again I did. Which brings me to Junior year. I don’t even need my sister to tell me how difficult this year will be. (She still didn’t spare me the details though.) I spent my entire summer anxious because of this upcoming year. Not only because of the horror stories told by previous juniors, but because I knew this was my last year to prove myself to the world. I expect this year to bring many challenges. A very important one is for me to become more independent. I have to start learning how to do everything by myself without my sister breathing down my neck, since she’s at college now. I am looking forward to AP Lang because I think it could help me obtain my goal. I also really want to become a better writer and a more active reader. Plus I really want to get at least a 4 on the AP test, and I’m guessing this class will help with that. My only fear is failing, not only in Lang but failing all my classes. I do not want to let myself or my family down. Which brings me to my next point. Since I have not put all my effort into school, I am not where I want to be academically. I need to succeed this year and hopefully I will. But I do like where I am socially. I make new friends every day and also hold on to old friends. I feel as though, I’m finally in a good spot, socially. But physically, I am never pleased with myself. I feel like I can always do better or try harder. There is always something I can improve about myself whether it’s physical or academic. So Junior year, here I come!
ReplyDeleteThis one is Chelsi I.'s
ReplyDeleteOh, lovely Oakcrest High School! How much I love walking through your halls everyday! I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m already ready to get out! Every year before school starts I try so hard to have a better outlook on my education, and as a whole my life. As the years have gone on I’ve realized that my attitude is tending to be more negative and I hate it. I used to be the positive one, the one that never has anything but good news or happiness to bring, but now it seems as if all the light is fading away. I am beginning to believe that the way my year goes is all about the way it starts off. My first day of school was TERRIBLE! Everything was turning sour, from my conflicting scheduling issues to my unsolvable personal problems that day. But since then, I just decided to suck it up, and get over it because my year will go accordingly based off of only what I make of it.
I am constantly told that junior year is supposed to be the most challenging, the most stressful, and the most important year of my high school career. Everything I’ve heard, I believe it all. Why wouldn’t junior year be the most difficult year? It’s the year before college becomes a student’s top concern, the year when the courses seem to need a tremendous amount of time, and the year that a student should really get their act together if they chose to slack off during the previous two years. For me, my junior year already is a step up from what I expected because I chose to move up from honors and take the AP courses available for me. I began junior year thinking that my year would be a breeze, but of course it became the opposite in a matter of one day in guidance. Because my original plans for this year changed, my expectations changed. Currently my only expectations for this year are that the year might just kill me, but I’ll get through it and that with a positive attitude and steady mind I can do anything that I believe I can do. Junior year is NOT going to stump me. I need to start looking at it as simply another year or step closer to the end.
This year in AP Lang my only goals are pretty common, just pass the class and become a stronger writer. Honestly, language arts and writing were never and I doubt that they will ever be my favorite subjects. But what can I say? You have to do it. I haven’t heard any ridiculous frightening stories about Bunje or AP Lang so I guess that’s for the best. No stories, no expectations. I’m free to form my own personal opinions! My fear like everyone else in this class is failure. The looks of disappointment from family members who expect so much out of you are unbearable. Another fear I have that pertains to school is my lack of time management skills. As much as I believe that sometimes my best work comes out of being under pressure, the life of a procrastinator is nothing but a build of tension and anxiety. It needs to come to an end, and hopefully AP Lang can assist my attempt in breaking this wonderful habit I have learned to keep year after year.
Chelsi Cont'd
ReplyDeleteAcademics are the most essential aspect of my life at this point. Nothing, I mean nothing comes before school. Last year I wanted to be the rebel child that doesn’t listen to their parents and I definitely had chosen the “I don’t care” philosophy of life. As much as I hate to admit this, last year was probably the worst mistake of my life. I messed up, and this year I must pick of the pieces and work extremely hard not just for myself, but now I have something to prove. Being hardheaded and stubborn gets you nowhere. My academic status needs to improve drastically! On the other hand, socially and physically I have never had any problems. Although I miss the days when everyone was best friends and the world seemed at peace, being in high school has opened my eyes to the reality of friendship. You just cannot trust everybody, and you should choose your friends wisely. Physically, as long as I’m happy, nothing else matters. All in all, I am content with my life and the direction it’s heading in at the moment and I’m excited to see what happens next!
To Becca: I love you’re positivity throughout your entire blog! I just had to tell you that your personality really shines throughout your writing. I truly commend you on deleting your facebook! I think we all should try that!
To Michael: I really liked how you chose to write in a letter format, nice touch I also liked how you outlined your weakest points and you are exactly sure of what you need to work on. I can’t wait to see one of the drama plays this year because I know with your determination, singing will come with ease. Practice makes perfect!
To Kendall: I absolutely agree when you said that you’ve watched so many family members and friends just graduate and that is it for them. Your dedication is going to get you so far. Especially because we’ve gotten pretty close over the past year, you seem to have different goals for yourself then your sisters and it’s obvious. I know you can do it, just continue to have faith in yourself.
Amber K.'s Post:
ReplyDeleteWhile I have only a few days to draw back on, I believe junior year to be one of the better years of high school. It’s hardly necessary for me to say that the phrase, “the toughest, most demanding,” is subjective to every person, but as far as I go it applies more to emotions. I understand that this year will be a lot of work and stress and come lacrosse season I’ll be fighting just not to pass out at 8:30, but I would say that either freshmen or senior year is the worst. In all honesty I can’t especially remember a time where I wasn’t socially awkward. I don’t mind it so much anymore; I’m perfectly content with my inability to respond normally to most situations. But as relatively blissful as freshman year was in comparison to most television shows, it was still a struggle to become somebody I could be happy with. And I owe freshmen and the beginning of sophomore year to that. On the other hand, senior year will just be flat out depressing under my standards. I’ve always been obsessed with how fast time wastes itself away and I was never one to be surprised at the passing of years. I find it horribly depressing that well over ninety percent of what I do will not even find a crack in my memory to cling onto. One of the few memories I have of my childhood takes place in my bed, the same bed I sleep in today and have spent thousands of nights in, the night before 1st grade. If it were now I would say I was too horribly excited for the next day, but back then it was more likely that my virtually mute withdrawn little body was crippled with anxiety. As I laid there I thought, “Amber, one day you’re going to laying here before your first day of high school.” It would have left me speechless had I ever talked anyway. But I did lie there, and I will tonight. When I found out what college was, I knew one day I’d be there too. That day will come and I can tell myself all I want that I’m still just a kid, I’ve only ever been a kid, but it won’t be true. Every day of senior year will present some sort of last for the childhood of my life. I’m very clearly overly sentimental. But as far as I’m concerned, junior year will be one of the best of my life, even if my brain fries a little more each day.
Amber cont'd
ReplyDeleteThe first several months shouldn’t be too killer. My long term memory is pretty solid and if needed in a high pressure situation, such as where I find out I have a quiz in five minutes, I have a fabulous short term memory. Well, I did the last time it happened and hopefully I won’t need it. The work will be excessive and at some times unendurable, but there will be days where I’d give anything to go back to these days. But like Mike Giovinco said, we are still kids. We need to remember how to have fun. It’s true that early March through May will be miserable. Spring sports will be exhausting and on the days where it rains and I’m stuck running around in rectangles on a muddy field, I’ll be shivering to the bone and up until one doing homework. Every hallway appearance will be devoted to AP studying. Every minute of the weekend will be consumed by sleep that has an unfortunate inability to cease and studying that possesses the same quality. My socialization will probably never drift far from goodbyes if I don’t wake up in the morning or if my body puts me in a coma due to lack of anything healthy. That’s about the warning I got from the current juniors. Back when I almost took AP Spanish, which would have been my 5th AP class, some people wrote me off as a lunatic. In reality it’s not crazy though, because I’ve never known how to be anything else but an overachiever and I wouldn’t feel like I was trying my hardest. As my Dad says, “Just be the best person you can be,” and this is the best I can do, and it makes me happy to try hard. We’re just going to have to fun every moment we can in between.
An aspiration I’ve always has was to one day write a book, even if it was only for my eyes to read. I’m sure I have eons to go on that venture. My grammar sense isn’t nearly perfected and my vocabulary hardly vast enough, but I hope this class can teach me some of the arts of language. This year in general will be beneficial if it can help me learn organizational and study habits, even if it knocks a couple months off my life. My fear is more of a constant paranoia that I’m forgetting assignments or just completely messing something up. My biggest fear would be failure in any sense since I’m an overachiever by nature. It’s really not a good trait and is more fruitless than fruitful and I’ll have to work on that this year. Learning to be happy with myself feeling less than perfect is a priority. But as of right now, I’m extraordinarily content with my life. I have nothing to complain about that’s genuinely a problem. Academically I’m exactly where I want to stand. Socially, I accept that I’m awkward and that it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Physically, well hey, it would be nice to be taller and I wouldn’t even mind adding a couple pounds, but nothing drastic to be bitter about. I know I’m pretty much exactly where I want to be because I’m a happy person. Even when I’m depressed I have that accompanying fascination and satisfaction to feel sad. I’ve accepted that my sentimentality is going to get the better of me next year, so I may as well feel as happy as possible now.
Amber cont'd....again
ReplyDeleteMichael G- I completely agree with what you said about having fun. We are still kids. We're taking adult classes but we're still at a point in our life where we need to relax and enjoy our life when it's at its prime. Soon enough we'll be off taking care of ourselves and we need to learn how to find fun in what we're doing now.
Matt M- I think that's the exact way we need to find fun. We need to enjoy what we're being forced to do. I also find the feeling of being overwhelmed and extremely busy addicting. That's one of the reasons why I feel I'm going to enjoy this year so much.
Connie C: You're completely right. We can't let what everybody says before us intimidate us. We always need to challenge ourselves. I don't want to try to intimidate all of the sophomores because I think everybody should try to improve. We should all be encouraging the people who are younger than us to try to be better than we ever were. And as far as sports go, there really is no rush like a sport. It's a great way to improve your lifestyle and even work ethic.
Connie- I totally understand what you mean by depending on yourself. I agree with you too, it’s easier to just depend on someone who will always be there…yourself!
ReplyDeleteBecca- I feel the same way about my classes! I was scared on the first day because I thought about the work and psyched myself out a little bit. But now, like you, I am really comfortable with my schedule and classes.
Matt- I really respect your confidence towards everything! I wish I could be as positive as you are. I really like what you said about the class rank. I wish everyone saw it like that. (including me.)
I'd like to think that 11th grade is NOT, in fact, the toughest year of high school. I say this because I have a severe case of denial when it comes to doing hard work (I'm kidding, obviously). I have high expectations for myself and my classmates this year, both academics-wise and social-wise. I expect to be extremely busy at home regarding homework, and I expect to be extremely busy at school regarding classwork, especially considering the learning curve has shot up since last year’s classes. Needless to say, I had never heard of anything like the Virginia Reel or integration by parts, and yet I’m taking quizzes on both tomorrow morning. This series of events, I believe, foreshadows the rest of this year for me.
ReplyDeleteI’m not afraid to admit that English has never been my strong point in school. On one hand, I speak the damn language, so why shouldn’t I get perfect scores in it? On the other hand, the reason I’ve struggled with English in the past is that it’s just. So. Subjective. That’s the worst of it: I like math and science because every situation that can possibly happen has one singular solution. When it comes to English, I can’t tell style from diction from syntax from tone. Considering the fact that I still have a lot of learning to do, here’s hoping that changes.
As far as my fears go, I fear that I simply won’t get enough things done in my high school career. When I was a freshman and a sophomore, I felt like the whole world had been spread out before me. I was in choir, drama, student council, and the tennis team, and the only things I could think about were my extracurriculars. I had dreams, to say the least. I knew that, being an honors student, I had potential to do anything. I always imagined what it would be like to be a freshman and receive a solo, a lead part, a position on the student board, or even a varsity letter! I honestly gave 110% in everything I strived for…but to no avail. The solos went to upperclassmen (and Jon Berchtold), the lead parts went to upperclassmen (and Jon Berchtold), my run for the position of Vice President failed miserably (Bobby Kelly now holds my previous position of Representative of the class, which some Council members don’t even consider a real position), and it turned out I suck at tennis. It was at this point that I realized even though I was talented in my own right, and wanted these things more than anything else in the world (including, as I would come to find, good grades), some things are just not meant to be. Now, I look upon myself, and realize: I used to loathe upperclassmen for having so many advantages over me simply for being older. Now, I am older, and I see no difference between myself now and myself six months ago. To put it in short terms, if I don’t realize all of my hopes and dreams by the time I’m a senior, I simply won’t know how to deal with myself. As stated before, I don’t like pressure. Also, I respect Jon Berchtold as a singer, actor, and all-around person. Just wanted to make that clear. I mean, two lead parts and a solo as a sophomore? That commands respect.
Also, sorry for waking you up at 10! If you were asleep, I mean.
Kendall: I like that you have a positive attitude for lang! I agree with wanting to improve on a lot of skills in this class. And you’re not the only one who’s unsure of the future. I’m also feeling sort of lost right now on what I want to do and what college I want to attend. Hopefully junior year will give us both a better sense of who we are and what we want to pursue. :)
ReplyDeleteConnie: It’s great that you and I have the same attitude as me going into this year. I can’t believe junior year is here either. High school really does go by so fast. I agree that there’s always something to improve on and it may be challenging, but it will pay off. It’s exciting that pretty soon we’ll see our goals and ambitions play out.
Ashley: I definitely think you can handle the workload that comes with lang. If you manage your time well, it won’t be as overwhelming. I think it’ll be better if you have a positive attitude towards it. Even if you don’t think you did that great on the RRLs, it’s only the 2nd week of school! We have a whole year to improve on them and much more. But I also fear the college application thing because I’m not sure what I want to do either. Hopefully junior year will give us a better sense as to what we want to do :)
To MiMi: You amaze me. I first wish to address your “few close knit friends” in hope that I am one! And on a more serious note I’d like to give you some advice, relax girl! I know you, and you weren’t lying when you said you were an anxious person, because you are. But you are also extremely intelligent and determined so try not to beat yourself up so much. I respect your goal to stop living up to other’s expectations of you and more importantly I sincerely hope you achieve this goal. On another note, you addressed an important issue in which we all have dealt with, procrastination. In past years it was so easy to procrastinate every big project or assignment, but now this is nearly impossible. It is one thing after another, especially in AP Lang. And I am right with you on focusing mostly on this course, for all the same reasons as well. So hang in there girl, and never overwork yourself or allow yourself to become too stressed out.
ReplyDeleteTo Becca: By the looks of it your not really the dud of a writer that you think you are. Your personality really shows in your writing, at least in this blog anyway. However you may be the first person I’ve ever known to dread junior year from the very beginning of high school. Most students just can’t wait for the title of “upperclassmen” or even to simply get out of the “dusty, cramped halls of Oakcrest High School” as quickly as possible. However I have heard the same horror stories as you, we all have. It is completely frightening to think if you mess this year up, your done. I also hope the “all-nighters” aren’t as frequent as you say, I enjoy my sleep. And by the way, “Facebook-less-ness” is always a good thing !
To Matt: The most agitating part of taking these AP courses is those incessant questions that you mentioned. They are nothing but discouraging and pessimistic, and going into these classes you need to obtain the highest level of confidence as possible. I’m extremely impressed that you’ve never experienced that struggle within your classes, or the limitation of your academic abilities. However that may put you at a disadvantage this year when you become overwhelmed and stressed, since your not experienced with handling that type of situation. But I know your extremely intelligent and I hope you achieve everything you need to for this year.
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ReplyDeleteAlright, so junior year! This year is definitely going to be different from my freshman and sophomore years. First of all, I can already tell the workload is going to be intense. More so than it was last year. But the difference between this year and last year is that this time, I’m ready for it. Last year I got more than one F on my report card, and I’m NOT letting that happen again. If I want to get into a decent college, move to New York, and follow my dreams, I’ve got to make this year count.
ReplyDeleteAs for my AP Lang class, I have high hopes that I will not only make it out alive, but with flying colors as well. I’m ready for the sleepless nights, and the countless reading logs. I can handle it. I know it’s going to be difficult, and at times I know I’m going to break down, but if I believe in myself, I know I can make it through.
My biggest fear about this entire year is that I won’t live up to my own expectations. I’m saying all this now, that I’ll get good grades and I’ll do all my work, but I’ve been known to disappoint. I’m a slacker at heart, only making a solid effort at things I have some sort of passion for, and I’m sorry to say that AP Lang is not one of them.
In general, I hope to accomplish a lot of things this year. Good grades, that’s number one. School comes first. But there are other things as well:
1.)Drama- I’m in drama club, and let me just say, I take great pride in that. There’s nothing more important to me than performing arts. This year, I hope to get a decent role in each of the musicals, something I have yet to accomplish. If I work hard, practice, and focus on my auditions, I know I’ll do well.
2.)Choir- I hope to greatly improve my voice this year, and possibly take some voice lessons.
3.)Dance- I also hope to greatly improve my dancing skills, considering I have none. I’m taking a ballet class, and I started taking dance instead of gym this year, and although I’m completely terrible, I’m hoping both of these will help me.
4.)Last but not least, we have friends. I do have a lot of close friends, but really none of them are in my grade. Once the seniors graduate, I’ll pretty much be out of luck, so I’m hoping that this year, I’ll be able to make better friends with people my age.
Well I guess I'm about last to comment on this blog. I read the question yesterday and I decided to think about it. So during school, during cross country and during work tonight I was thinking about my work load for the year, and now that I'm finally home at 10:30 PM for the first time since 6:45 AM I realized that my work load is about 10 times more than previous years. As for the school work, I can already tell that this year is going to be very strenuous and tedious, but it will be completely worth it. The more work I put into getting good grades this year, then the more I will get out of it. As for AP Lang, I can only hope to do well and can only expect to learn how to write so much better than I already do.
ReplyDeleteWhat's next? Ah fear. You ask if I have fear of junior year? Of course I have fear of junior year. I've only been told about a million and a half times that junior year is the most important year in your entire school carrer when it comes to getting into college. The work I put in to my ten previous years of school could all be ruined with one bad year. Not to mention I have even more responsibilities with the student council board, three sports, four AP courses, work and (if I have any extra time) being a social.
In response to George, I respect that you don't have too much fear because so many people before you did it. However, many people have gone through the classes and sports we have, and they have "slipped" as you said. People drop AP courses all the time, and I don't want to be one of those people. So yes, a lot of people have gone through the same thing we have, but at the same time, a lot of people have failed the journey we are about to begin. Fear is a part of this journey and I believe that it almost drives you through the start.
In response to Tom, as Garret said, SAT's completely slipped my mind as well. Not only do we have to worry about getting good grades and being active and having our own social life, we also have to worry about the most important test any high school student can take (in my opinion). So just add another item to the already infinite list that needs to be completed by the end of this year.
All in all, I'd like to think I'm prepared for this year, but not too excited for the year to come. As I said, my work load is already ten fold what it was last year. I hope to be the three season athlete, the student council star, the straight A student, and anything else that looks good for the ladies and colleges. However, there is doubt. This year will test my strengths and weaknesses, but I'm ready to hurtle over most obstacles and get up immediately for the ones that are bound to make me fall. So I wish all my classmates good luck on the journey that they are about to take with me, and may everyone be cautious, but have fun for the next nine months of your lives.
I'M LAST!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree that junior year us the toughest, most demanding year of high school. I'm taking 4 AP classes this year, and I'm already being piled with work. My Grandma was shocked to see me already doing essays and projects in the first weeks of school. I hope that along with my workload, I have fun this school year. When Senior year comes around, I'll be off to college before I know it. I'll be standing on the Oakcrest football field ready to graduate. I'll be proud that I took the challenge Junior year and didn't drop any AP classes.
I believe Junior year will bring many challenges I have to overcome. I need to learn to not pass out as soon as I get home from school. I also need to get more organized this year or I will fail. My grades suffered alot Sophomore year because of stupid mistakes such as forgetting my work or losing it. I want to repair my GPA this year because my rank dropped dramatically to 76 at the end of last year. I REALLY need to step it up if I want to improve it.
From my AP Lang class, I want to improve my writing and other literary skills. I want to boost my SAT scores. I want to get used to the routine of having alot of homework everyday to prepare for college. I've heard that this class is harder than a college class. Therefore, I look forward for college, but I don't want that day to come yet. I still need time to be a kid!!! In the summer, I went on a long, 20 mile bike ride almost every day. Now, I'm lucky if I even step outside. Its school, sleep, homework every day. I hope to have a little more time on the weekends to be free of homework and hang out with friends. My first weekend of Junior year was taken up by my Lang project. This weekend may be different. I may be able to finish all my homework Thursday and Friday and have free time Saturday and Sunday.
My biggest fear of this class is, of course, failing. I'm sure thats the fear for many taking AP classes. I don't want to fall behind in my work or I'm screwed. If I do, I don't think I'll be able to catch back up. I'll be swept away in the sea of work. I hope this won't happen because I'd drown.
I do not believe I'm where i want to be academically, socially, or physically. As stated earlier, my rank really suffered last year, and I need to fix that. I believe I'm beginning to become more confident in my work and am starting to raise my hand and state my opinion. My social skills are really lacking. I can be really annoying and obnoxious sometimes and I can't control it. So far, I've been pretty mature this year. I want to form better relationships with friends and stop annoying them. Next, physically, I'm not where I want to be. I'm somewhat in good shape, but it's not going to be good enough for the upcoming tennis season. I wish I would have played more tennis like I said I would the end of sophomore year. I want to try to hit at least three times a week as my coach just told me to do earlier today. It will be really hard to do along with my workload in my AP classes. I really want to make it to varsity this year in tennis, and that requires motivation and practice. I hope my tennis skills improve alot this year. Junior year is going to be a big year of improvement this year. That is why it is going to be the toughest, most demanding year of high school.
Oh and in response to Garret and Nick, worth ethic and procrastination are my two worst aspects of high school. As you can see, I hold my work off pretty late and sometimes just save it for study hall. This year, I want to save sleep and fun for study hall and get my work done at the beginning of the month. The calendars are going to be more than helpful when it comes to the work I have for the year ahead. I plan on using my resources wisely and trying to get work done as soon as possible. If i could truly improve anything this year, I would choose my work ethic the most. Thank you guys for pointing that out because I knew I was missing something.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been told by countless juniors and seniors in the past that junior year will be the most stressful year of my life. I couldn’t imagine that a more stressful school year could exist than sophomore year. But that was last year. Now that I’ve been a junior for about two weeks, I’m beginning to piece together what I think junior year will consist of and what is in store for me. Those who say this is the toughest year, at least in my experience, have taken the same 3 or 4 AP classes that I’m currently taking. AP classes are challenging, and when 3 or 4 are taken simultaneously, it can be difficult to balance the large amounts of work with the limited amount of given time. I am certain that this year will be the toughest year I have yet encountered, at least in the realm of high school.
ReplyDeleteI expect this year to bring many late nights that bleed into early mornings, lower grades than I am used to, and tons of time-consuming homework. But enough with all of the pessimism. I also expect this year to strengthen my current friendships, bring new friendships, and give me several inside jokes. While the year will be a difficult one, I know I’m going to learn things that I will carry with me until the day I die. This year specifically will show me what I am capable of and what my limits are. Toward the end of the year and maybe after, I expect that I will have a better idea for my career choice that I will continue to work towards in college.
I’m sure everyone taking AP Lang is hoping for this, but I’m hoping to become a better reader and a better writer. I’ve spent my entire school career in English classes interpreting what pieces of literature mean, but I’ve never really touched upon WHY the author wrote a particular way or WHY the author wrote the piece in general. These concepts are new to me, and I hope to master them. I’m hoping to become an expert for the sake of passing the AP exam. If I can pass the AP exam and use the credits for college, then mission accomplished.
What I fear most about this class is the number that will appear next to it on my report card. It’s probably not healthy to worry so much about this grade, but I can’t help it when so much is expected from me as an AP student. I’m going to have to work extra hard at this class because it is my weakest subject. I do not intend to let myself become lost in AP Lang, but persevere in the toughest of times.
I would say I’m quite satisfied with where I am academically. I’m not going to brag about my GPA or class rank because I’m a humble person, and it’s definitely nothing to complain about either. I may not be the coolest kid in Oakcrest, but I have a small group of exceptionally close friends and several other friends, so my social life isn’t bad. Physically, I’m pretty satisfied with myself. I could gain a few pounds and maybe put on some more muscle, but I’m generally a healthy teenager. Ultimately, whatever conditions I find myself in now, I can only expect myself to improve by the end of junior year.
THIS IS ABBIE GROFF’S POST. HER COMPUTER IS ALSO NOT ALLOWING POSTING.
ReplyDeleteJunior year. I am aware of how my fellow smart people used to react to hearing that before we got here. I remember the last two years, friends older than me would go about warning my surrounding underclassmen and I, of how we needed to prepare for the brick wall of what our third year in high school would feel like. I just asked my mother, to try to get another “I remember” to use, if she had ever warned me about the intensity that should be expected from the big JY, and her exact response was, “I’ve been telling you that all along!” So I suppose walking into our clean and beautiful (as Ms. Fresne referred to Oak during a lovely afternoon announcement) school at the start of this school year, I guess I could fairly say, “I’ve been warned.” But, you see, the strange thing is, besides around the HSPA and SAT time last year, when everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and worrying how that will be me someday, the concept of what Junior years holds, hasn’t seemed more frightening to me, any more than what every new school year usually is. College applications and state testing excites me, simply for the fact that it means we are finally growing up; we are finally the older kids who are almost done the tedious duty of school. Now don’t get me wrong, I love school, but the fact that I’m almost done with it, is there anyone that doesn’t get excited, even if it’s just a little?
I honestly don’t expect this year to be harder than it looks like it’s going to be. School in general isn’t easy, but perhaps the reason everyone seems to be stressing about this year, is that they are piling on one too many AP classes and sports and extracurricular activities so when they start filling out college applications, they have a lot to write about. Maybe that’s their problem, they like to write. I learned the hard way that overdoing yourself gets you all the way to nowhere. In fact, I back tracked last year, especially when it came academics. I thought that I could handle three honors classes, two maths, and an AP class, along with keeping up my sport and having a social life. Sooner than later found I found that I indeed could not, and suffered greatly last year. If my mistakes from that taught me one thing, it would be to not set the bar higher then I could possibly ever reach, and if I do, to immediately get back on my feet. The problem was, once I lost my footing, I lost hope in myself and couldn’t get back up. I also learned that I need to not jump into classes that I have no idea what I’m getting myself into. At the end of sophomore year, I did my research on my upcoming classes, found my motivation that I had thought I lost, and became excited for what this school year is going to throw at me. I expect this year to be as hard or as easy as I make it, and I’m prepared to make it count.
The medical field has always called out to me, even when I was younger. But regardless of this truth, I have always found English to come easier to me than anything pertaining to math and science. Due to this, it would only seem appropriate, approaching junior year, to go into the next highest English class available: Lang. I am expecting a boatload of work, but that just comes with the territory. Sometimes we have to work to keep up that AP status, right? I have good expectations for myself, and am planning on working hard to reach that 5 on the AP test at the end of the year. I am also expecting to become a better writer. I’m pretty excited to make sharper, a tool that I already am a little proud of. One of the things I’m nervous about though, is keeping on top of things. I’ve always had a problem with time, but some work with time management should help me with that. Being able to handle everything is what I’m very much working towards now. I have a clearer head on my shoulders this year, so the only thing left to do it to get to work.
Abbie Cont'd.
ReplyDeleteAcademically, I’m not where I want to be. My grades last year were awful, and I’m going to personally start this year at the end of last year, making up for my slacking off by getting only A’s and B’s on everything. I’m not going to let myself fall in the cracks again. Last year was honestly a humbling time for me. Being so in over my head, I learned the new concept of, “swallowing my pride and asking for help.” But by then it was too late. It’s not going to happen that way again. Socially, I love where I am. It’s so funny to think how we all used to strive to be liked by the cool kids, or sit near the cool kids, or hang out with the cool kids, when now, I’m not really sure who to consider the cool kids. I don’t think like that anymore, and it’s kind of rare for people my age to do. You hang out with who you get along with, and I do just that. I have three best friends, all of which do not go to Oakcrest, and we just have fun together. I love my group, which usually includes other best friends of my best friends, and we just do what we think is, “What we want.” I love making friends, and I do easily. I love how I can go down the hallway and wave or smile to a majority of the people I pass. I decided a while back that the reason I can get along with many different people is because I don’t fit into one social group. I’m a misfit, leaving me with the option of fitting into any group, which I do when I want or need to. I like it this way, and wouldn’t change it for the world, me and my group of misfits. Physically, I am how I am. I should be more active, however I’ll get back on track once school settles down in a normal pattern. But I’ve come to be happy with me, and really wouldn’t want anything else.
To James: “All I want from my junior year is to make the most of all the opportunities I have, so I can go where I want to with the rest of my life.” This really sums up my feelings for this year, and I truly hope those feelings stay with me. All our teachers have ever told us has been to try our best, and that’s all we need to do, in this last stretch of two years we have to go.
To Morgan: I really do love you view on how you want to handle this year with open, ready arms. It’s been a while, but I think I’m back this year with that same mindset. I like how your goal is to be proud of yourself at the end of the year, and I think it’s one that everyone should strive for. It’s nothing unattainable, just something to reach towards, to keep us going when times get rough.
To Hira: I like how you talk about your fear of failing. It’s one all of us share, although more importantly, I think it’s one that holds us back. I know it does personally for me. I get so nervous of messing up in school or doing something wrong, that is stops me from the possibility of being better than I expected. But I guess it’s another goal we have to work towards, and eventually we’ll have it down pat.
At Michael G: I love your Wizard of Oz reference at the end there. But I agree with you on a lot of points. First of all, I also feel that I’m not a very strong writer; hopefully this class will help us both improve our writing skills. As for singing, I’m really proud of you, because I know singing used to be so out of your comfort zone, and now you’re taking it on full force. It’s a very hard task, and I hope you succeed.
ReplyDeleteAt Bobby K: Gosh, you have a lot on your plate. But I'm proud of you for taking on so much, it's a hard task. I share your fear for junior year, the whole college thing is freaking me out, and we all have a lot of pressure on us to do well this year.
At Hira Z: I'm the same way with my sister, she scared the heck out of me my freshman year, telling me my classes were going to be incredibly difficult, and warning me that I would be staying up all night doing homework. And I also agree that I'm not where I want to be academically either, let's hope we both succeed in our goals to get good grades and pass our classes.
EFhoiuhgiuoh MY COMMENTS DISAPPEARED!!
ReplyDeleteJuliana: Nice blog! I just realized while reading that alot of my friends are going off to college the end of this year. Yu'seph needs to have more sleepovers!! I also realized I didn't mention anything about drama. I hope to get a much better part for Grease this year.
Ashley: I agree with you on everything, except the part about doing a split. My biggest argument is that taking AP classes will prepare me for college. I argue that with my family whenever they tell me I'm not going to be able to handle the workload.
Patrick: Patrick, my brother. Your blog is amazing. I agree that this year is going to be very stressful. I also can't stand the relearn game. Especially Calc. Once again, we are in many of the same classes. This may seem VERY unfortunate to you, but I'll help my brother out when he needs it.
To Cole:
ReplyDeleteI love your metaphor of the light at the end of the tunnel. I agree that senior year is a sort of light at the end of the dark and horrifying tunnel that is junior year. I interpreted the candles as weekends and season breaks, a little light to keep us going while there is more tunnel left to venture. I also said that the small amount of time we have spent in junior year is not enough to know what to fully expect for the entire year.
To Thomas:
As I stated in my post, the English classes were always my weakness, but I have decided that I wanted the challenge of AP Lang. All of the different faces that you explained junior year would bring are all faces I think we can all expect to express throughout the year. I too have not yet taken the SATs, so I think we should take them ASAP!
P.S. My cat was on my lap while I typed this.
To Schuyler:
I’d have to say your post was a more entertaining post than many of the others’. I don’t have the same mentality that work is just work. To me, different types of work require different amounts of effort and thought. Even though you said you advise no one to trust you, I can’t help but trust you anyway. Like Ms. Bunje said, you either trust the author or you don’t. You seem to be the most straight-forward, to-the-point author that posted here so far.
I’ve been dreading my junior year since the start of high school. Everyone builds up this year to be the one that can make or break a high school career. This eventually snowballs into not getting the right college acceptance sent my way, which then continues to escalate into not getting the career you have been dreaming about. Honestly, I can be one of those people that overdramatize little things and play them up to be much more than what they actually are. Even though I tend to overdramatize things, I don’t believe that messing up my junior year of high school will wreck my life. However, I do believe my junior is very vital to my immediate future and is by far the most demanding year of high school.
ReplyDeleteEntering high school at fourteen years old was difficult to do. It’s a completely different environment and being at the very bottom of the totem pole isn’t the most pleasant thing in the world. During my freshman year I skated through my classes pretty easily and still had time to have fun on the side. Although I didn’t have too much trouble with my classes, I still grew up and learned a lot about myself. My sophomore year was slightly more demanding, but I was able to make it through in one piece with pretty decent grades.
Junior year, on the other hand, will be much more challenging for a variety of reasons. The most obvious reason in my opinion is the work load. Most students push their limits in how many hard classes they take and how many hours of sleep they are willing to lose to get the work done. Colleges focus on junior year to determine whether or not a student is qualified enough to be accepted into their program. This means stepping up your academic game junior year if you really want to get accepted into your dream university. Also, if you want to play sports in college, eleventh grade is the year you have to be the most competitive and the most physically fit than any other time in your life.
ReplyDeleteThe second reason junior year is the most arduous is the fact that so many things are changing swiftly. During this time in your life, you must be planning where you are going to college, and then have a decent idea of what you want to do with the rest of your life. I always love having a plan of what should happen next and then what should happen after that. Therefore, junior year is very intimidating; I know I must begin planning a new chapter of my life, with no idea where I will end up or how the chapter will end. I’m growing up and there’s no way to stop time from passing. I’m soon going to kiss goodbye to everything I know and there’s no way I can stop it.
My junior year has now begun and I’m feeling an array of emotions. Some days I feel pretty confident and determined to conquer junior year, and some days I feel nervous, anxious, and even a little sad. Even though some days I know I will feel overwhelmed I still have relatively high expectations for this year. I expect myself to come out of junior year as a stronger, more intelligent person. I want to be able to leave junior year with more knowledge about myself, the world, where I’m going, and of course, the classes I take. I’m more ready than ever to take on junior year and my AP classes. This year is a huge challenge and it’ll put up a good fight, but I’m hoping that I’ll finish in June being the winner. I’m expecting this year to bring tears, laughs, and plenty of memories.
My fears for junior year are that I will let junior year beat me. I’m afraid I won’t be ready to apply to colleges or won’t have a relative idea of where I want to go. I’m additionally fearful that I will give into the temptation of letting my classes win. It’s very easy to want to give up when the work gets tough and decide that “this assignment isn’t really that important” or “I don’t feel like studying tonight”. These few thoughts sit on a very slippery slope of getting the work done and just giving up.
During my second week of junior year, I feel that I’m in a pretty good position to overall conquer this year. I know I won’t succeed at absolutely every test or every game, but I am going to try my best. I guess that’s all I can ask. So far, I’ve been more motivated than I usually am. Academically I have been doing the best I can and although I would love to have a 100 in every class, I know that’s virtually impossible. Socially, I would love to have more time to myself and friends and family, but I just have to keep prioritizing and eventually it will work itself out. I’m not going to overload myself to the point where I forget about the people I love to be around. Physically, I’m pretty content with where I am. However I do feel that anyone could pick at little things about themselves and there is always room for improvement at any stage during your life. Even though there is room for improvement, that is not to say that one should obsess over how they look or how others view their physical appearance.
Overall, I think I am where I want to be due to all of my positive thinking. I opened a fortune cookie after the second day of school that read “All of your hard work will soon pay off”. Immediately I thought of this year, and I hope to keep the positive light that my work really will pay off in more ways than one at the end of the year. So, junior year – bring it on.
Olivia – I love the fact that you mentioned wanting to figure out who you are as a writer and what you want to do with your life after high school. I feel exactly the same way. I would love to just know what I want to do with the rest of my life so I would be able to plan out where I’m going and how I’m going to get there. I also loved the part about what you wrote on your star about success and happiness. I actually put something very similar on mine.
ReplyDeleteCole – I feel the same way about our upcoming senior year. Whenever I feel like I won’t be able to handle this year, I think about how much I’m going to enjoy next year and how this one will be worth all of the work and lack of sleep and social life. I also have the same fear of one class’ grades suffering due to a different one.
George – I also hope to get better at handling multiple things successfully. I particularly liked your line “By pushing through it, I’m hoping that it will better me as a student and as a person, by becoming able to drive through any kind or amount of work.” I’m a firm believer that whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger, and I suppose you could apply this concept to your statement. All of the hard work and pushing through will benefit in the long run. Even though it’s sometimes tough to see the benefit immediately, eventually it will come.
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ReplyDeleteWhile I have only a few days to draw back on, I believe junior year to be one of the better years of high school. It’s hardly necessary for me to say that the phrase, “the toughest, most demanding,” is subjective to every person, but as far as I go it applies more to emotions. I understand that this year will be a lot of work and stress and come lacrosse season I’ll be fighting just not to pass out at 8:30, but I would say that either freshmen or senior year is the worst. In all honesty I can’t especially remember a time where I wasn’t socially awkward. I don’t mind it so much anymore; I’m perfectly content with my inability to respond normally to most situations. But as relatively blissful as freshman year was in comparison to most television shows, it was still a struggle to become somebody I could be happy with. And I owe freshmen and the beginning of sophomore year to that. On the other hand, senior year will just be flat out depressing under my standards. I’ve always been obsessed with how fast time wastes itself away and I was never one to be surprised at the passing of years. I find it horribly depressing that well over ninety percent of what I do will not even find a crack in my memory to cling onto. One of the few memories I have of my childhood takes place in my bed, the same bed I sleep in today and have spent thousands of nights in, the night before 1st grade. If it were now I would say I was too horribly excited for the next day, but back then it was more likely that my virtually mute withdrawn little body was crippled with anxiety. As I laid there I thought, “Amber, one day you’re going to laying here before your first day of high school.” It would have left me speechless had I ever talked anyway. But I did lie there, and I will tonight. When I found out what college was, I knew one day I’d be there too. That day will come and I can tell myself all I want that I’m still just a kid, I’ve only ever been a kid, but it won’t be true. Every day of senior year will present some sort of last for the childhood of my life. I’m very clearly overly sentimental. But as far as I’m concerned, junior year will be one of the best of my life, even if my brain fries a little more each day.
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ReplyDeleteThe first several months shouldn’t be too killer. My long term memory is pretty solid and if needed in a high pressure situation, such as where I find out I have a quiz in five minutes, I have a fabulous short term memory. Well, I did the last time it happened and hopefully I won’t need it. The work will be excessive and at some times unendurable, but there will be days where I’d give anything to go back to these days. But like Mike Giovinco said, we are still kids. We need to remember how to have fun. It’s true that early March through May will be miserable. Spring sports will be exhausting and on the days where it rains and I’m stuck running around in rectangles on a muddy field, I’ll be shivering to the bone and up until one doing homework. Every hallway appearance will be devoted to AP studying. Every minute of the weekend will be consumed by sleep that has an unfortunate inability to cease and studying that possesses the same quality. My socialization will probably never drift far from goodbyes if I don’t wake up in the morning or if my body puts me in a coma due to lack of anything healthy. That’s about the warning I got from the current juniors. Back when I almost took AP Spanish, which would have been my 5th AP class, some people wrote me off as a lunatic. In reality it’s not crazy though, because I’ve never known how to be anything else but an overachiever and I wouldn’t feel like I was trying my hardest. As my Dad says, “Just be the best person you can be,” and this is the best I can do, and it makes me happy to try hard. We’re just going to have to fun every moment we can in between.
ReplyDeleteAn aspiration I’ve always has was to one day write a book, even if it was only for my eyes to read. I’m sure I have eons to go on that venture. My grammar sense isn’t nearly perfected and my vocabulary hardly vast enough, but I hope this class can teach me some of the arts of language. This year in general will be beneficial if it can help me learn organizational and study habits, even if it knocks a couple months off my life. My fear is more of a constant paranoia that I’m forgetting assignments or just completely messing something up. My biggest fear would be failure in any sense since I’m an overachiever by nature. It’s really not a good trait and is more fruitless than fruitful and I’ll have to work on that this year. Learning to be happy with myself feeling less than perfect is a priority. But as of right now, I’m extraordinarily content with my life. I have nothing to complain about that’s genuinely a problem. Academically I’m exactly where I want to stand. Socially, I accept that I’m awkward and that it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Physically, well hey, it would be nice to be taller and I wouldn’t even mind adding a couple pounds, but nothing drastic to be bitter about. I know I’m pretty much exactly where I want to be because I’m a happy person. Even when I’m depressed I have that accompanying fascination and satisfaction to feel sad. I’ve accepted that my sentimentality is going to get the better of me next year, so I may as well feel as happy as possible now.
Michael G- I completely agree with what you said about having fun. We are still kids. We're taking adult classes but we're still at a point in our life where we need to relax and enjoy our life when it's at its prime. Soon enough we'll be off taking care of ourselves and we need to learn how to find fun in what we're doing now.
ReplyDeleteMatt M- I think that's the exact way we need to find fun. We need to enjoy what we're being forced to do. I also find the feeling of being overwhelmed and extremely busy addicting. That's one of the reasons why I feel I'm going to enjoy this year so much.
Connie C: You're completely right. We can't let what everybody says before us intimidate us. We always need to challenge ourselves. I don't want to try to intimidate all of the sophomores because I think everybody should try to improve. We should all be encouraging the people who are younger than us to try to be better than we ever were. And as far as sports go, there really is no rush like a sport. It's a great way to improve your lifestyle and even work ethic.
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