Personal Narrative: My AP Computer Science

The biggest failure I experienced was back during my Sophomore year. The hardest class in the high school was AP World History in which the requirements were hours of homework a night. Many people tried to convince me not to take the course due to the fact that it is considered the hardest class in the high school. My mom tried her hardest to try and persuade me to take a different class but I felt that it was a requirement for me to take it to prove to the colleges that I was up for the task and that I was prepared to do the work necessary to succeed in college. The course required reading a whole chapter in the text book in three days and take a quiz to prove that we read and understood the topics. This is where I struggled the most because memorizing the chapters and the major topics was very difficult unlike others who could recited the

When one enrolls into an honors or advanced English class, there are many worries that come to mind. These worries create thoughts such as ‘Am I a good writer?’, ‘Will I pass?’, or ‘How do I even start a paper?’. My teachers never specifically taught me to write. My teacher that I had for 9th grade English and my 10th grade honors English class always gave good grades. Once I got into my first AP English class, I felt as though my writing was inferior. In my distress, I went to the internet and I found that you do not have to be gifted in academic writing to get good grades on your essays, I found that organization is the key to writing a powerful essay.

My AP Physics C classroom is filled with whiteboards. You can start writing a problem on one board, circle around the room, and find the answer right next to where you started. With a small class of just eight students, application of physics and calculus to real world scenarios is gripping. I remember contemplating during the MLB World Series fervor how long batters had to react to a pitch. My physics class and I were intrigued. We all grabbed Expo Markers and began solving for velocity, acceleration, impulse, all the while keeping in mind cross-sectional area of the ball, the stride of the pitcher, and other minor variables. I modified the problem by asking the class to use Aroldis Chapman (the fastest pitcher) as the pitcher. We spent hours

As a proud feminist, I was thrilled to discover that Columbia Engineering is a 47% women, and that the Dean of Engineering, Mary Boyce, is a woman. My AP Physics C class is heavily males and almost all the girls sit together in the back corner. When I sat front and center in the classroom, boys surrounded me because no other girls braved the front row. At Columbia, I know that I will be in an environment with enough women that we can all sit proudly wherever we feel comfortable, and if women are outnumbered, they will work together to have their voices heard just as loudly.

As I walked up the stairs of my school to what would be the first ever AP course in my life, my mind raced with anxious thoughts of what lied ahead. I was a sophomore taking AP Spanish Lang, something that my previous Spanish teacher had told me should come naturally due to my Mexican heritage. If only I could believe her, I had spent years trying to Americanize*its a formal essay don't use slang shit like americanize* myself to fit in with those around me.

My SAT scores aren’t the best because I lacked motivation to learn in high school and barely studied before taking the test. However, after graduating from high school, I stopped playing video games, which took a big part of my time, and motivated myself to become a life-long learner and improve every day. For example, during my first year at IU, I worked hard to be involved in campus organizations such as the Toastmasters Club and the Kelley Student Government while also working hard to get a 3.8 GPA. As a result of this effort, I got accepted into the Kelley School and the Business Honors Program. After transitioning from an average student in high school to a high achiever in college, I realized that any goal is achievable if one if willing

Last year as a junior, my AP Calculus class and I received the opportunity to paint a mural on a wall to demonstrate our hard work throughout the year. The one catch, however, was we had to design and paint it all within fifteen days. My class and I were very motivated and began work as soon as possible. We brainstormed ideas for the design of the mural to incorporate as many calculus concepts as possible while also combining it with hidden messages that had special meaning to our class. At the same time, our goal was to make the mural fun and appealing to all by-passers. Now it was time to take our concepts, and begin the process of painting the mural. Initially, we had roughly seventeen students who could paint and help out but that number

Stepping on to the scratched up ice, however still gleaming in all the light. I remember shaking of fright and of the cold atmosphere surrounding me. Not knowing what was coming next. Will I fall?, Miss a step? Forget my program? Soon enough my music would start and I would be off. Thinking about my program, hoping I wouldn't mess anything up. It was all a big blur, nothing was clear to me. The audience was filled with parents and skaters from all parts of the COS (Central Ontario Section). The judges seemed to be staring me down, trying not to look at their mean, cold eyes, I stepped on the ice. Everyone staring at me, it made me very uncomfortable, and I felt pretty awkward being there. I tried not to show my fear, however I don't think I did that very well. There was this little girl at her first skating competition, and the first one to go, how will she do?

I noticed multiple zombies on the horizon and slowly brought out my buck knife. Then it was more than a couple, it was four, then six, then ten, then twenty. Tommy screamed that we needed to get ready for fight. I quickly snatched up my knife and put it in my belt, grabbed my mom’s old snub nosed pistol, put my small hammer in my hand and knelt like a sprinter before a race. Tommy was prepared with what looked like fire arrows. Hayden and Joey were ready to. I fired all six of my bullets, six zombies went down. I pulled out my hammer and charged. The next few minutes were a blur, zombies dying left and right, blood all over me and my face, I screamed wildly. There was fire everywhere. This was for my Mom and Dad, my sisters, and for my friends. I was killing as many as I could but the more I killed the more came to take their place. My hammer was peeled from my hand, so I pulled out my throwing knives, I had five but only two limpers went down. With my strength fading I grabbed my buck knife and slashed a zombie in the face. Then I realized I had made a vital mistake. I had wandered to far into the hoard, they were all around me. “No!” I screamed “I…*pant*..can’t die….like THIS” I expected a new magical strength to fill be but it didn’t. I felt furious pain in my left hand but couldn’t look down to see it. I pushed through and got out of the

During my years in middle school I learned how to work. I was used to working on the farm when we had it. I never went to

During the first semester of my grade 11 year, when I completed Advanced Functions for the first time, I had some personal issues that I dealt with. I was being pressured by my peers and because of this my grades from my grade 11 year changed drastically. It was only when I was about to finish grade 11 and was feeling better was when I had realized that my Advanced Function marks would affect me greatly. So, I decided to redo it in summer school.

“Ring” did you hear that.That was the bell. Second semester started, The first semester went by fast. The first semester was hard I got bad grades.My Goals for this semeser are to do better in my classes.

I hope to gain a wider knowledge of strategies and tools in order to teach writing. My three goals for writing this semester in ELED320 is…

“Meet Ezra Klein of Vox, the new substitute for Peter Mansbridge.” This is how I began a summer computers program for seniors I spearheaded two years ago near Algonquin Park. I taught safe computer habits, delivered lectures on ethical hacking, and introduced them to online news and recipe websites.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been intrigued by puzzles and their resolutions. I’ve grown up solving jigsaw puzzles while coaxing out the solutions to brain teasers.