Personal Narrative: AP Chemistry

Everyone who doubted me had to state that they told me not to take it but I felt accomplished that I took the hardest class provided in my high school. It was depressing that I didn’t pass the AP exam but when next year came I took AP Environmental science which was the same concept as AP World in which is all based on note taking and quizzes that relied on the notes you take from the textbook. I felt that AP World History had a major impact on this class because I was taking notes every night studying for the test. I ended up doing really well in AP Environmental science and passing the AP exam with a 4. After I took the exam I started to look back and realize how much AP World helped me succeed. Although I didn’t pass the exam for AP World I felt like all the hard work and dedication carried over to AP Environmental Science which made me realize that all those people who told me not to take the class were only trying to bring me down because it ended up helping me be a better student and leading me to be better prepared for the

assignments. There was a brief moment when I felt like giving up and dropping the class, but then I remembered an old

This school year, I wanted an academic challenge, so I signed up for AP Physics 1, a class notorious for the number of students failing. I soon learned why: every day provided new and foreign concepts taught at rapid speed, and no matter how hard I tried to understand the curriculum, I couldn’t. When we had to take mock AP exams, I scored a three out of five every single time. While that technically was passing, I left the semester with my very first B. It was a heartbreaking situation - I had never received anything less than an A my entire life and took pride in my perfect grades. This time, it seemed that there was nothing I could do to salvage them. However, I trekked past the initial disappointment and promised myself to do better the

I’ve always heard that some trials are caused because of our own actions, I discovered this firsthand when I enrolled in AP Chemistry. I'd never taken Chemistry before, but after talking with the teacher we concluded that I would do fine in AP as long as I was willing to work hard. Chemistry didn’t come easy for me. I felt like things weren’t clicking as quickly as I wanted. When I read from the book I had a difficult time understanding what I was reading. So I started sacrificing my hour lunch to get help from my teacher. Nearly every day I ate lunch while getting help on chemistry homework. At home I spent most of my time doing the same homework. I'd do the problems I knew how to do, then the next day I came to class and lunch prepared with

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

I earned a one on the AP Chemistry exam and a C in the class both semesters; I couldn’t be happier. Although I technically failed AP Chemistry according to the AP exam standards, I gained invaluable experience throughout the class. While others would be devastated to see their report card with all A’s and one C, I was content with it. My junior year I was placed in AP Chemistry-without having taken the prerequisite classes- and I failed to switch out. By not dropping the class I learned just how persistent I could be and how much effort pays off.

When it was obvious that I could not earn an A in this course at this time, I dropped the course so that I could regroup. I used my inner talents for analytical analysis and critical thinking to identify the reasons for my challenges in AP Physics. Quickly I realized that the pressure of getting a good GPA and good grades in every course had paralyzed me. I had channeled all my energy into earning a grade and neglected to consider that knowledge must

Furthermore, I realized that this semester was going to be particularly challenging because of the Pre-calculus and Calculus hybrid course I had enrolled in; math has not always been my best subject and taking a fast-tracked math course was sure to be disastrous. Nevertheless, I was determined to make A’s in all my classes. After the first week of classes, I could already feel myself becoming overwhelmed with the amount of work I had to do in such a short amount of time. Not to mention, how disappointed I felt in myself when I received my first quiz grade for my pre-calculus class, I had bombed the quiz terribly by making a 65.

As a junior, I had three AP classes: AP United States History, AP Language and Composition, and AP Chemistry. I thought taking them was going to be a breeze. As the AP tests approached at the end of the year, AP test preparation accelerated to levels where the question was not whether or not we had homework, but instead e how much time the homework would take to complete. My struggle came with preparing for the AP Chemistry test that coupled complex chemistry topics with difficult algebra. I took practice test after practice test, read test prep book after test prep book, and asked for help constantly on any perplexing concepts and any convoluted math problems. The time came and went slowly, yet very quickly.

My difficult courses has taught me to always give my best effort no matter how hard the task at hand is. I have taken three advanced placement classes and four honors classes. Taking on these courses I sacrifice leisure time to study. I study between two to three hours a night for these classes so I can do my best. This is exemplified with me getting all A’s in my classes last semester. The monumental lesson I learned from my course load is to

At my school, we have a very rigorous chemistry program. Although I excel more in biology than chemistry, I decided to take organic chemistry to try and become more proficient in chemistry. The class was structured on the assumption that every student had already had at least one semester of AP chemistry, but I was among the few students who had not yet taken AP chemistry (I did not have room in my schedule for it). I figured the class would be challenging, but I thought I would try my hand anyway.

When I passed my AP World History test. During my freshman year I was put into an AP class. I didn’t know what AP was, I didn’t know what to expect. I was able to handle my honors classes because it was material back in middle school. However, AP World History was strenuous and took major effort. There were multiple times where I had uncertainty of whether or not I was capable to keep going. I really felt out of place because it was a difficult class with essays, chapters to read and exams every week. Nonetheless, I never gave in, I convinced myself that the reason why my school put in roughly 90 kids, including myself, out of at least 1000, is because they saw potential in us and knew that we would be able to handle the stress of a college

It’s ENC 1101, Not knowing what to expect I entered the room with absolute fear, after all it was my first year of college. Although I’ve never been quite fond of English in the past, I’ve always excelled in the subject. I had yet to work for my grade and no English course I had taken proved to be a challenge through my eyes. I am a huge procrastinator, if not one of the biggest when it comes to assignments. I most likely wrote papers the night before or the day of and still managed to average an “A” on all of them. This bad habit led me to believe that I was cheating myself. Throughout my scholastic years I always had the mentality of asking “what could this class possibly teach me that I didn’t already know?” I believed that my writing

I also have always been intrigued by chemistry and the world around me. Because of that, I decided to take ACP Chemistry C105/C125 and C106/126 my junior year at my high school. Not only could I earn college credit, but I could also satisfy my thirst for learning and understanding more about chemistry. I figured it would also be like any other high school class I had taken previously. That was not the case. It was the hardest class I had ever taken up to that point. All my other homework took me about an hour and a half at most to do but chemistry took me just as long and longer still some nights. Some nights my dad would come into my room at 11:30 telling me to go to bed and I had to tell him I couldn’t because I had to finish this assignment.

Not a single class should be disregarded because it is one’s responsibility as a students to produce laible work for every course we decide to take. AP Chemistry and Math Analysis were by far some of the most challenging courses I have taken as of now. I am truly interested in the field of science, and chemistry is an intriguing for subject; however, because I was not expecting the density of the course material in such rapid time, being able to fully grasp the content of the material came as a challenge to me. I can honestly say that for the first grading period of the class I believed I would completely fail the class. As well, coming from a normal honors chemistry class, averaging almost a hundred percent, I allowed my previous success to get to my head. Of course, I did not believe that AP Chemistry would be nearly as simple as normal chemistry, but I also could not image that it would quite different. After I learned that I could not maintain a decent grade without the time and effort, I began to get a hold of the class and improved substantially. Over all, I actually did enjoy the class due to the vast spectrum of topics it covered. As for Math Analysis, I genuinely believe that my lack of effort jeopardized my grade. I have never been a “math person,” but I have always dedicated time to all math courses in order to receive the grade I want. Nonetheless, because I was incredibly preoccupied with AP classes and attempting to maintain an A in those courses, I allowed