Second Semester Senior is Bliss

Upon the completion of the last high school midterm exams of our lives, I felt a great calmness come over my life. All the hard work and time put into to school for the past 11.5 years now seems undoubtedly worth it. All of us seniors have put ourselves into a position where we can tone down our stress levels and relax for one more semester together. My dad recently told me that I should make the best of my next seven months before college because it will be one of the only times in my life where I can feel comfortable about the stability of the few years ahead of me. Once out of college we will all experience the anxiety of not having concrete immediate future jobs or feel the pressure of having to excel at our job or else be at risk of losing it. We should feel very fortunate to find ourselves in such a favorable stage of life. It feels so good to go school and not feel the stress of having to attain a particular grade or to get a certain GPA anymore. One result of this relative relaxed state revolves around the fact that we perform better in some aspects of school. Take toady’s in-class writing for example. I did not feel the usual jitters upon flipping over the question sheet and I did not feel overwhelmed by deciding what to write about. Without stressing about our grades I feel that our AP English grades will go up as oddly as it may sound. I truly believe that writing in a more relaxed and stress free state fosters creative and deep ideas. Overall, this whole second semester senior thing has been going pretty well. School without having to stress isn’t half bad.

The Beauty of the Blog

 

            As I sit here on my computer with football on in the background I begin to realize the beauty of our blog assignment. Honestly, what could be better than doing a semester exam for a difficult AP class in the luxury of one’s own home? I have sincerely enjoyed having the ability to relax and blog on my own rather than having to stress over a 90 minute essay worth 20% of my grade. Also, I feel like we have written about much broader subjects in our blogs than we would have done in a semester exam essay. We had the chance to express our creativity in ways that wecould not have done otherwise. I feel like it got our brains working in a different way. Instead of doing typical “cookie cutter” essays which have not changed much since last year we could freely and more effectively express our thoughts.

            Another aspect of the blog project I really enjoyed was reading other student’s blogs. Like seriously I actually liked reading them. For one, they are mind expanding and thought provoking. They’re also often hilarious and really fun to read. Getting to see another side of many of my companions makes me feel very confident that CFHS has prepared us well for life in the real world.

            Overall, the blog project rocked. It provides the perfect amount of low stress and work for a final exam.

Learning How to Ski, Kind of Like Learning How to AP English

            This past Friday, I decided to go skiing for the first time in my life. I discovered that my experience mimicked my experience in AP English in a way. As I held on to the towrope taking me up to the top of the bunny hill, I thought, “how hard can this be.” I felt a similar way over a year and a half ago doing my first ever AP English assignment, which consisted of me describing something I did on the last day of summer. Once I got to the top of the hill, my buddies taught me some of the basics of skiing, like how to stop and turn so I don’t kill any unsuspecting five year olds. As I dug my poles into the ground and pushed myself forward I began to think I was in some trouble. I recall feeling the same sort of dread moments before my first in class writing junior year. I felt all of my aforementioned confidence slip away. I went tearing down the bunny at what seemed like a hundred miles per hour; my attempts to stop failed and I found myself quickly on my rear with my skies unattached to my feet and my poles ten yards above me on the hill. Walking out the classroom after getting a three rubric score on that first in class writing made me feel the exact same. Even with my extreme failure, I kept on trying. I fell fewer and fewer times until I could go down the bunny hill without a hitch. Similarly, my rubric grades slowly but surely went up from a 3+ to a 4- to even a 5- at my best. After dominating the bunny hill, I decided to test my newly honed talents to the blue square hill. After my maiden voyage on the chairlift I went down the blue square after falling only once, or maybe twice. It certainly got my confidence up and I started to really enjoy skiing sort of like how I enjoy AP English now. It may have taken just a bit shorter to get the hang of skiing than AP English but both show that if you keep working at something, you will eventually succeed.

Shutter Island's Brilliant Opening Scene

 

            I felt that the beginning of Shutter Island was brilliantly done. It really drew in the audience and set the tone for the rest of the film. The image of the two marshals on the ferry approaching the island gave me a very eerie feeling. A combination of the misty fog and Marshall Daniel’s seasickness created a very uncertain tone as they approached the island. The two Marshall’s conversation also sparked my interest. After Chuck asks Daniels if he saw the briefing, Daniels responds by saying, “The island is a mental hospital…for the criminally insane.” By creating a pause in the middle of Daniels’ sentence, Scorsese highlights the words “criminally insane,” thus building suspense. I distinctly remember those lines from the preview from about a year ago so clearly they were meant to stick. Another aspect about the opening scene I enjoyed revolved around the music. The crescendo of the music just as the ship began nearing the island really gave me the creeps. It foreshadowed very bad things to come on the island. Overall, the opening set the stage perfectly for the movie. It created suspense and it foreshadowed that troubles lay ahead. I found the opening scene to be spectacular. 

AP English: Training for Life After CFHS

            As I wrote my dreaded college essays a while back, I thought of how much more difficult they would have been if I had not taken AP English both junior and senior year. I felt very comfortable expressing my thoughts on paper and I almost enjoyed writing some of them…almost. AP English has prepared all of us for college and life in the real world more than any other class in the school. I feel that almost all professions put to action the skills we hone in AP English class. Most professions require the ability to write well, to read and analyze carefully, to problem solve, to meet deadlines, to complete large projects in relatively short amounts of time, and to communicate. I firmly believe that AP English gives each and every one of us those skills. Having those skills will in turn give us an advantage when we begin working.

            In addition, AP English gives us a glimpse into what it takes to succeed in college and in the workplace. Unlike in countless other CFHS classes, AP English makes you responsible. We must take it upon ourselves to come in and make up work or turn in assignments on time even if we fall ill. I think that the responsibility and accountability we learn in AP English will most definitely prepare of for success in college and the workplace. Having responsibility will not come as a shock when we enter college because we will already feel accustomed to it due to our AP English experience. All of us AP English students will surely put our skills to action once we enter the real world. I believe that we will all have a distinct advantage after we leave CFHS because of our experiences in AP English.

The Asian Invasion

            Last year in AP 11, I earned the reputation that I dislike Asians. It all started in one of the end of the quarter multiple-choice games. Jillian was in a competing group and a passage arose that dealt with China. I simply stated that Jillian’s group has a distinct advantage over everyone else because they have someone of Chinese descent. Then boom, Miss Serensky labels me as an Asian-hating racist, all in good humor of course. This label has come up many times throughout the year and I do feel a bit awkward sometimes because I get the feeling that unaware classmates believe the accusations are fact rather than playful banter. In reality, I have nothing against Asians. They have done many great things in history, like get the first Atomic bomb dropped on them and fight three wars against the US in the 20^th Century and only lose one.

            I write about Asians today to share the irony that shortly after I joined the Dartmouth ’15 facebook page, I received four friend request from my future classmates, all four of them Asian. I felt so excited that I texted the news to Jillian who promptly wrote on my wall, “Hahahah I just major creeped. You're gonna love them by this time next year. Your roomate could even be one...” I can only imagine if one of them picked up on the gist of the message. That’s very awkward if they did. After reading this message, one could insinuate incorrectly that I…

1. Do not currently “love them”

2. Am creeped out enough by Asians that I told my friends about them friend requesting me

I may just carry on my Asian hating reputation with me to college if that wall post gets enough views.

To Start the Data Sheet or to Not Start the Data Sheet

 

            Like most of my fellow classmates, I have yet to start my data sheet. And as winter break begins to wind down I am starting to think about the positives and negatives of my decision.

Here are some of the positives of not starting a 179-point project over winter break:

·      Higher enjoyment of winter break

·      More time to hangout with family and friends

·      More time to ski, snowboard, and do other fun winter activities

·      No ridicule from classmates

·      More time to blog

·      Saving energy by not using a computer

And the negatives:

·      Could cause stress toward the end of break

·      Students may experience exhaustion, insomnia and anxiety during the first week back from break

·      Sparks anger toward those who did a lot of work over break

·      Lowers overall academic performance due to fatigue in the first week back

Based on my lists, the most prudent course of action would be to start the data over break but my desire for a relaxing and fun two weeks of break outweigh the one week of anxiety and stress.