Final Reflection
During the end of freshman year, I have heard plenty of talk about this AP World History class. I didn't know what it was about but as teachers and friends explained all about AP classes i knew that it would have been in my best interest to take the challenge and take the class. Most of my friends also were thinking about taking the class so that really motivated me since i didn't want to be alone in a regular class. Sophomore year was the first year ever that my schedule had an accelerated or non regular class. One of the pros on taking AP World History would be that if i were to pass the AP Exam, the class would count as a college credit and i would not have to take it as a class in college. I knew that this would be a big step for me since I have been in normal classes up until 10th grade and i thought that i was not prepared for that type of class. History and social science has always been one of my favorite topics so it was the perfect class to begin pushing myself. i knew that this type of class was going to make me very stressful and i would have ended up sleeping very late. At the end i knew that taking the class would all be worth it if i put all my dedication and show my effort that i can pass the class and the AP exam. Now that the AP exam is over and there is only a few days until the school year is over, I am proud of myself for believing in myself and not giving up on myself. Thanks to Mr.Rodriguez i am now able to be fully committed to my work and learn how to take proper notes that will help me understand what i am reading. At first i thought it would have been impossible to know a time period of over 8 thousand years, but thanks to Mr.Rodriguez i know that if i put time and effort, anything can be achieved. Now that that sophomore year is over, i am able to say that enrolling into AP World History has been one of my greatest decisions as i am now able to endure any other class in the future, able to be much more responsible with my academic work and everything I've learned and achieved this year payed off.
Before and during taking this class, i have not always been the brightest student, instead i was seen as a student that didn't know anything. that has always been a challenge for me as my learning experiences in the past years have not been so successful because of all the things i have dealt with in the past like learning English in 5th grade to having my first Accelerated class in 10th. AP World History has thought me how to make further understanding of relevant topics by finding evidence, explain with reasons and examples, and being able to compare and contrast the topic with another. The next class that i will endure will be AP U.S. History, which in my opinion will be much easier because the U.S. has less information to learn rather than the whole world. The one thing that helped me the most to understand a chapter or reading, was doing synthesis notes. I am now able to turn a 10 sentence paragraph and summarize it into 1 or 2 sentences that are relevant to the topic and relevant to my this which i have created. I'have never been a big fan of taking notes but with out taking notes i would not have been able to fully understand a chapter and prepared for the AP exam. Writing essays and writing a good thesis has and will help me along with my other classes such as English, History, or any other class where i need to write an essay. I know for sure that in the SAT i will need to write an essay, so by learning how to write a thesis and explain the thesis into 3 paragraphs i am more than likely to get great score on the SAT.
AP World History was the first class I've had where i had to deal with so much homework each day. From taking chapter notes, so typing essays or finishing a group project. I never really bothered to finish some of the work first semester, which led to being sent to homework center a few times. Once second semester started, i began to change my attitude towards all the work and class. I began to actually put time and effort into all my notes, even if it meant staying until 1 in the morning. I was tired of my classmates and my teacher of thinking less of me. So I was able to finish notes which i have not done from semester 1, and began to make note cards when ever i needed to. For this reason, i believe i was able to go into the AP exam and actually be prepared. Once i was finished with the AP exam i felt really confident that i passed it and actually am proud of my self for taking the time to study, although i wished i had not waited until the final week. I now have learned to not procrastinate and do all my homework for all my classes, even if it means sleeping very late and waking up tired. Next year, my goal will be to turn in every assignment that i get from all my classes, do my best work and turn them in on time because i really want to get into a good university.
All the work that i did or did not complete was actually useful in some ways which i know I'll find useful in the future. The four E's were very useful as i was able to find evidence and explain it with relevant examples. Writing a good thesis has also taught me how to write essays much faster by giving 3 examples to write my body paragraphs, which helped me in my AP exam essays. The chapter summaries were very useful for the first semester as i was able to get key terms and write down definitions or meanings along with a web link that was related to the chapter. To make it creative we would draw something relevant about the chapter with a 10 sentence summary. this allowed me to have deeper understanding into the chapter into just one page. Creating flashcards for important terms or dates have also helped me to understand the reading better.
In conclusion, this class has prepared me to take other AP classes for the next two years of high school i have left, i have also become more responsible and dedicated to my education, and all I've learned throughout the course has been my greatest accomplishment. I am really proud of my self for challenging my self instead of not taking the class or quitting on my self. This class has taught me how to look at real life issues and have a better understanding of what has happened over the years. If I would not have taken this class or quit at the first semester i wouldn't have had all this knowledge and maturity. I would have most likely still been procrastinating and not doing my homework. Although sophomore year has not been so successful academically, I will push my self to really do all my work and create study notes because i want to make all my teachers proud, my parents proud and most importantly myself proud. To any of the upcoming sophomore who want to challenge themselves like i did or to anyone who thinks they can't be in an AP class, AP World History is the first AP class that will make you stay up at night, maybe even crying at time to time, but all of that will be worth it. I dont think I've had a teacher who cared about their students education like Mr.Rodriguez. Thank you for this fun year, thank you for preparing me for the future, and thank you for your speeches you have in class about education that has really motivated me to actually be something in life.
