Final Reflection |
About a year ago, I remember thinking about this year. Sitting in my accelerated and regular classes and thinking, “AP next year”. It was a sense of excitement and uncertainty, specially because I was going to transfer from Montgomery to Southwest High School. Finally, my sophomore year had began, and I was about to step into one of the greatest challenges that I have ever faced, AP World History. I had to accustom myself to the work load; I had spent years not having homework , but now it was different, and it scared me. As the course took off, I learned some valuable skills including; managing my time, a sense of interpretation, and how to successfully read a higher level text. Among all students, even the best of us, get caught in procrastination, a force strong enough to defeat a gullible student. I had to learn how to control my desire to procrastinate on my homework, and other projects, so I did. I haven’t done a perfect job, because I've struggled second semester, and I don’t know If I’ll be able to achieve a 4.1 GPA. However, first semester was when I really put my foot down and did all my work. The point in which I decided I didn't just want to be an AP student, but I wanted to be a successful AP student was when I received my test score on our first unit exam. My score was in the high 80’s, but I wasn't happy with it. I wanted to get higher scores, so I decided I would stop procrastinating, and do my work. Attending Saturday study session, stay after school to ask question, I was willing to do all that for my grade, and it would all be worth it. When it came to my second or third unit exam, I had received the highest grade is all the classes, that was a feeling I didn't want to let go of. My biggest fear for a greater part of first semester and a slight amount in second semester was the DBQ Essay on the AP Exam. I didn't understand how to interpret a document, but once I actually focused and stopped worrying about all the technicalities, I was able to pick it up. Using SOAPS Tone is by far the best way to grasp interpretation skills. The largest challenge for me was analyzing a document which was largely opinion based, rather than factually based. Then came the point of view statements and I just lost my mind. However, all I had to do was attend a Saturday session and I began to understand that I wasn't looking at the document in search of the literal meaning. I had to take in consideration many different aspect, like when it was written and by who, to understand the significance of the document. I do wish I would have spent more time interpreting documents throughout the year, instead of avoiding more work and not analyzing both documents in each chapter. The textbook itself didn't scare me, I was afraid of what was inside. As a girl who loves history, my worst nightmare was reading the textbook and having no clue what I was reading. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. I opened my book and attempted to read a paragraph, I had never seen vocabulary like that found in a book, I was scared and intimidated by a book, something that has never happened to me before. I felt better when Mr. Rodriguez told us it was normal to feel that way and that we would slowly but surely learn how to read our “new bible”. I didn't give up on my book, I was determined to understand what it was trying to teach me, so every time we had to read a section and take notes on it, if I didn't understand a word, I would Google the definition, then reread the paragraph. Now, after doing this for almost a whole school year, I know I can tackle AP books and I won't be intimidated by a book ever again, but I do look forward to new challenges. AP World History was a challenge that I accepted and I can’t say I regret any of it. I learned to control my procrastination, but I can only do so if I put my 110% into it, I learned how to interpret sources and not just take the literal meaning, but I also learned how to read my textbook and not need to Google every other word. I can’t take all the credit, all I did was build upon the base Mr. Rodriguez sets up for us. My success comes from the mutual work put in by me, and by a wonderful teacher who is always there to support his students, Mr. Rodriguez. If there is any kind of advice I would give incoming AP students, it would be to not take this class lightly, it will prepare them for what is to come and I’m sure they don't want to face a challenge with no arms at hand. |
