Personal Narrative: My AP Experience

Someone once said, “Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” I use to think that I couldn’t take AP because it was too difficult. But I’m willing to prove to myself and others that just because something is considered hard, doesn’t automatically mean it’s not for you or that you’re going to fail. I want to take AP Biology because I want to challenge myself, of the benefits, and for the experience. I believe that hard work comes with great rewards that are life changing.

Coming into junior year and taking an AP English class, I am extremely nervous. Outside of English, I am taking two other AP classes, so I am worried about the work load that I will be responsible for throughout the year. I have heard from my older sister that AP English is a fun, great class. Throughout my eleven years of school, I have always been one to challenge myself and I fell that by taking AP English I will be challenging myself once again. I am looking forward to a good year this year.

Throughout many of the arduous AP courses I took in high school I was pushed to my limits, but I accomplished my goals through hard work. One example of this would be my AP United States History class. This class was one of the most difficult courses I had taken, mostly due to the sheer amount of information being presented and needed to be memorized. Even though the basics of U.S. history had been taught to me in one way shape or form every school year, there was brand new information on people and important dates. At first I struggled with the work load and text, but I eventually made it through and succeeded by diving

AP may challenge you, but we believe you're more than capable of rising to that challenge. And We'll be here every step of the way to support you. The highlight of AP class is that unlike tradition classes they are scored on a 5.0 grading scale and not the standard

The AP Exam was not easy as easy as it could have been, but there were some questions that had obvious answers and questions that were...so confusing...for no reason at all. I ended up finishing early the multiple choice early because Lit had so much preparation AND! I finished the essays with 40 minutes left (they were quality essays I hope).

The AP English Lit. exam made me feel so many different emotions. I was extremely anxious, I honestly did not want to take the test. I felt like I was just going to fail anyway, so why bother and take it. I felt as if I was just going to get frustrated and go to sleep; like I always do.

Aside from languages, I have taken every AP course offered at my school. Each year I have increased my course load with one much more rigorous to raise my threshold of understanding while maintaining if not exceeding my previous GPA. Currently, I am one of the two students in my grade taking full AP.

One of my main goals this year is to be successful in AP Psychology and to do well on the AP exam. There are many ways I plan to accomplish this goal. As this is one of my first AP classes, I am unsure of the work this course will entail. To succeed despite this, I will have to try my best and always listen in class. I will also try to get advice from people that have prospered in AP classes before. Hopefully, they will share helpful tips about studying and work ethic that will help me succeed this year.

This year has been very big for me not only as a student, but as a person, citizen, and teenager. Many things have happened to me that have made me rethink my choices and aspirations. One of the most important things that happened to me this year was that I took two AP’s: AP World History and AP Computer Science. These classes challenged me and I got my first B for the quarter in World History. On the day of the AP Computer Science exam I knew that I hadn’t prepared enough, even though I wasn’t prepared for the Computer Science exam it did help me to gauge how the test would be formatted for World History and what to expect time-wise—which seems to be my worst ability during testing season. Those two classes also helped prepare me

Having to balance practice almost every day after school for weeks at a time has allowed me to develop better time management. My experience with that allows me to be efficient with the time that I have. While in high school I had multiple pre-AP, AP, and will take dual credit classes that challenge me and offer a workload closer to that of a college.

I would not let my dream be snatched away from me so easily. Balancing work, academics, and extracurricular activities, I had little time for actual AP and SAT preparation. I often sacrificed sleep just to get a few extra hours of studying in. Two weeks before the SAT, I dedicated hours to practicing, and I read more in order to build my vocabulary. The result was a massive increase in my overall score. It was a bittersweet moment; as I rejoiced in my improvement, I acknowledged the fact that I was still below my target score. In silent determination, I registered for the next available test. As AP exams approached, my free time diminished, and I reluctantly admitted to myself I would not be able to prepare for the coming SAT test if I wanted to focus on improving my AP scores. I put all of my time into AP review; when I wasn't working, I was studying. Not long after completing my AP tests, my SAT test came around the

At the end of second semester AP's, we had to do a presentation combining two AP subjects, and I completely underestimated it. I did one sophomore year with minimal effort and was able to get an 83. I figured, why would this year be any different. Sadly, there was a lot of things I did not account for, such as the grading being easier on sophomores than juniors or seniors. My strategy of putting in minimal effort backfired, and landed me a 69 as an

For the life of me I could not understand what was being taught in my AP Chemistry class. A big part of chemistry was memorizing important facts and equations and using those concepts in the comprehension of chemistry. I always failed grasping these important concepts and I was struggling in the class for a long time. I really wanted a tutor to educate me more on this subject, but due to financial issues there was no possible way we could manage to afford one. Another big part of taking an AP class is collaborating with your classmates but I was always shy. While my classmates were interacting, helping each other, and sending each other study guides and useful information, I would always be left in the dark.

After clicking on the power point, I found myself obsessed with completing the APA game. Students came in during lunch and were amused to hear my boisterous cheers and frustrations while playing the game. Andrew, an ELD student, came in to speak to me about Journalism and interjected the type of computer programming that was used to design the game. He immediately looked at the game setup and gave me his input; he felt it was necessary give me a strategy on how to win based on the configuration of the program. I told him I want to learn APA and was willing to get items wrong because I need to learn APA formatting. I surprised myself and got more correct than I thought. I asked Andrew to help me set up a game like this for ELD and our learning

In February 2017 I started my practicum at Owensboro Medical Practice in Owensboro, KY. My practicum experience started with an interview with my clinical adviser, Brandie Ashley. Owensboro Medical Practice is located at 1200 Breckenridge St. and consists of an Immediate Care clinic, Heart and Vascular clinic, Pacemaker clinic, Coumadin clinic, Rejuve Medical Spa, Research Center, and various primary physicians’ offices.