AP Classes

Once I reached the tenth grade I got into my first legitimate Advanced Placement class. I had heard all of the horror stories about how terrible it was from some people, and then how others loved the experience. Of course I had to make my own opinion as the year progressed. The subject was United States History. It was not my ideal AP class to start with since I am based more towards science and math, but you have to start somewhere. We enter the class the first day and we are told how most of the class depends on us actually studying and thinking for ourselves, whereas in a regular placement class we would be spoon fed everything we needed to know and given more worksheets than we could imagine. This already started off to my liking because throughout my entire life I have detested worksheets over subjects that I have already mastered. It was a waste of time in my opinion when I could have been learning something essential to my career plans or just something I had a strong passion for.
The first test rolls around the second week of school and I don't have a clue what to expect since every test I had taken up to this point in my life had been a breeze. The savior on the first test was the fact that we had been given a plethora of summer assignments for this class. This forced everyone to read and actually understand what they were doing. Everyone serious about the test also attended a study session the Sunday before test week to hopefully get some insight on what the test would be about. The scantron for the first test is handed to me, and I write my name and the date on it and awaited my first ever Advanced Placement test. As the teacher comes to our group I feel a knot in my stomach. She then lowers on test packet onto my desk and I read the first question, and to my astonishment I knew the answer. I was thrilled with myself. I went through the packet answering question after question. I did hit a snag with four or five questions, but for my first AP test I felt like I was accomplishing something vital to my success later on in school and life.
Throughout the year I did notice an extreme change in the pace of the classroom and an increased difficulty in the work, but I persevered and received an 88 average for the year. It was only the second B I had ever received in my entire life for a final average, but I felt better about that 88 than I did about most A's in regular classes. It made me feel like I was truly being challenged for once. I had to study like I had never studied before and think like I had never thought before. It really forced me to mature at a young age.
The next year I got my schedule and I was enrolled in three advanced placement classes; literature, government, and biology. I chose the biology as an elective because I do very well in science classes and I truly enjoy them. I knew that I would have no problem with this class. I also knew that I was a successful writer, so the literature wouldn't pose a threat to my grade point average. Lastly was the government. All I had ever heard was that AP government was extremely easy. Apparently it was only easy if you got a specific teacher, and unfortunately I did not get that teacher. I still had high hopes though. The first test approached in government. I didn't feel the need to study for an extended period of time, so I goofed off and my grade reflected this. For the next test I felt like I had appropriately readied myself for whatever she could throw at me, and still my grade was no where near what I wanted or was capable of. Test after test I just couldn't match up to the AP Government test generator. I got extremely discouraged and I was managing a B by acing every daily grade we got. I wanted an A so bad, just one nine weeks, but I never got to taste it. After all my suffering I received an 84 for the year; by far the lowest grade I had ever gotten.
This class showed me that I did have a weakness to certain subjects in school. I put in all of the work, only to receive a low mark. The remarkable thing is that I would do it all over again. I wouldn't take the easy way out into a regular level class. No matter how hard the class is, I would rather be constantly challenged and get a grade I worked for, than to sleep in class and make a 100 for the year. Advanced Placement classes are the best thing I have gotten involved with in school, and I know they will pay off for me in the long run.