AP Calculus A: A Short Story

The science test you’ve been dreading has finally come to haunt you. You walk in, and the teacher routinely reminds you of the weight of the test on your grade, 80%. The teacher hands out the test and you blankly stare at the questions that can either build up, or destroy your grade. Unconformities?! What are they? Scrolling through the pages, you finally find some questions you know. The teacher announces that there are only 5 minutes left before you must turn your answers in. In a hurry, you halfheartedly guess most of the test, hoping that you get lucky. Days pass, and you receive your final grade for the test. Next to your score you see an F in bright red. Frantically, you race to the computers to check your overall grade. You log on only to see a perfectly stable B+ plummet down to a D. On the bus home, you are tense, assured that your parents have seen the obvious drop. Walking through the door, your mom asks “How’d the test go?” Stammering, you reply with “Er--well that's a long story”. Confused she asks for the test, and you wearily hand it over. You immediately see the disappointment in your mom’s face as she flips throughout the pages. Your punishment was groundation, and after your mom lectures you, she walks out. You think for a while, and realize that you could’ve prevented all of this if you simply studied instead of playing that game for longer.

I believe in fighting for your goals and aspirations, and not waiting for things to be given to you. Beginning from day one, the expectations for me have always been straight A’s. This expectation had been fulfilled all throughout elementary school, and junior high without a problem, but as high school rolled around, I noticed I began to struggle with a certain subject. Math had always been my favorite subject, and usually came easy to me. My eighth grade math teacher was very organized and provided us with thorough and descriptive notes daily. I seldom struggled, and if I did, I simply reread the notes and raised my hand. However, my new algebra teacher had a different method of teaching that I wasn’t accustomed to. We rarely took notes, our ‘notes’ were primarily examples, and she was very disorganized. Realizing that math was going to be slightly more difficult this

Obstacles can easily change one’s journey in life. I believe I did have to overcome obstacles to succeed in AP Calculus, but they are quite different than those of the characters in the movie. In the movie, basically every character had a large obstacle to stop them from taking the class. For example, Angel was hindered by his activity within a gang. Ana had to deal with her father who wanted her to drop out of school and join the family business. Pancho had to choose between joining the workforce and his possible future as a student. Personally, the obstacles I faced were fundamentally different than those in the movie. For me, I had to overcome obstacles like not understanding the content that we learned in Honors Pre-Calculus the year

Tears stung in my eyes as I gazed down at the dreaded product of neglect, already feeling a cold weight tug at my heart. Looking at my practice log, I determined that within the twenty-four hours remaining before it was due, I needed to make up the eight hours of practicing I had been lazily putting off. After informing my mom of this impossible feat, she told me that I would not be staying up past midnight to practicing as a meager attempt to salvage my grade. The next day I turned in my log with a hint of discouragement as I awaited my grade. I didn’t fail the class, but I still had to live with the knowledge that I could have done better. I tried to justify what happened by saying I wasn’t used to Jr. High with its additional seven classes,

In my 7th-grade history class, I was having trouble with my assignments. At the start of the year, it was all easy for me, but over time, it became difficult. The reason was that I couldn’t understand what’s happening when reading the passage in the textbook. Therefore, I felt that I couldn’t overcome understanding what the tests are saying. I would have just stared at the passages like a hawk during my tests. Eventually, I stopped doing my homework and studying for tests as a result of thinking it was useless to try. At the end of that semester, my grade was a D since I was slacking off. I was truly shocked when I saw my grade because I believed I was going to fail everything.

During first period I observed Dana Bealing’s AP Calculus class. At the beginning of class Dana handed out the materials for the day. This included a project handout, a notes worksheet for the day’s lesson, and an example worksheet. During this time Dana connected with students by asking them how they dealt with the snow. She asked the students if they had any wild blizzard stories from the weekend. Dana announced to the students that there were going to be changes to the assignments due to the snow. She also took this time to tell the students that they needed to complete the final exam revisions if they had not already done so. These papers were handed to the students as they were walking in the classroom. The next activity included a

During the first marking period, what I learned in AP Calculus is how important it is to remember functions and certain formulas or standards such as slope, the Intermediate Value Theorem (IVT), Limits, Instantaneous rate, Intermediate form, Zeros, etc. Thanks to this, I’ve learned that standards aren’t as hard as I used to remember, from my time in Geometry Honors, rather they are easier to understand whenever I take notes on whatever I can’t remember or I’m having trouble with at the moment. My grade for this marking is somewhat higher than I expected, meaning as a Math student its possible to obtain a higher grade if I actually attempted the homework, I only look at it and attempt like one or two problems sometimes even none. What’s been

My calculus teacher, Ray Chayo, was keen on ensuring his students that the knowledge we learned in his class will help us excel and dominate in our calculus courses in college. I remember the dark blotches underneath my eyes that were evident of all-nighters I pulled through in order to tackle and survive his vicious yet uncomplicated exams. On his first exam, I received a D+ because I did not comprehend the concepts. It was as though my grain of rice had fallen, like the ant, I did not capitulate to my negative thoughts of dropping this class. Instead, I chose to ask for help, so I can change my studying habit. I went to his class one hour early before the school started. From 7:00 AM to 7:45 AM, I would spend all my time asking questions and doing the problems on the whiteboard. Through this, not only did I get A’s and B’s on the other exams, but I had also learned a valuable lesson. I had begun to grow out of my personality. I am very shy when I have to interact with my teachers because I feel as though I should not be asking for help. Through interacting with my calculus teacher in high school, I had also learned to interact with my professors at CRC. Even though AP Calculus AB was difficult, but by working diligently, I had also earned myself a reward. I achieved a score of 5 on the AP Calculus AB Exam. This allowed me to skip Calculus I at CRC during my first semester of college. If I

I had decided to delay studying for my extensive anatomy test over all the muscles of the body until the night before the enormous test. I knew that my reasoning was not sound and I should have commenced long before. I came to the resolution to make an effort and learn all of the muscles and pray for a miracle while I took the test. The next day I trudged into my anatomy class with my stomach in my throat. As Mr. Nikiforow passed out the test I felt my nerves kick in instantaneously. I sat in agony as my classmates ploddingly passed the test down the row. I began to glance through the test and I knew at that instant that I would never make the same mistake again. When we received our test back later that week, little to my surprise I had failed. My first initial reaction was “this material was tremendously challenging and everyone else obtained poor grades as well, so Mr. Nik must have done an inadequate job teaching it to us”. I went through the rest of my day attempting to forget about the test, but it seemed to keep popping up in the back of my head. When I arrived home, I decided to address the looming thoughts in the back of my head. My sub par grade on the test was in no way Mr. Nik’s responsibility. The grade instead was a clear representation to the lack of effort I had put forth in studying. Prior to anatomy, I had been able to attain quality grades with minimal studying. Failing my anatomy test presented me with the wake up call that I needed.

During my junior year, I was going to be enrolled in either AP Statistics or AP Calculus--I had no other choice. While everyone opted for AP Statistics with the teacher that never failed a student, I decided to give AP Calculus a try. All my peers told me I would fail; I was puzzled at their blunt assumptions. They didn’t know what I was capable of, and neither did I, so I gave it a try. Due to schedule conflicts I had missed the first day of class because I was at a tennis game. Besides being disappointed with myself, the teacher did not miss to remind me that if I wanted to pass Calculus I would have to be in class. As captain of the tennis team I felt responsible to stay on the team, but soon the consequences began to follow: I failed my

To improve my grades, I reached out to my teacher for help. My teacher told me that I need to take better notes and study more. With his advice, I was able to increase my test scores. I raised my grades by forming study groups with my classmates and studied for upcoming tests. Although I was passing the class, I wasn’t pleased with my achievements and told myself that I should work harder. I attended tutoring sessions to understand difficult concepts and topics.

One year ago, almost to the day I received my grade for my research paper. The paper that started it all. The paper that I had spent so much time and effort on was finally sitting in my lap face down itching for me to turn it over. On the other side, the grade that would determine my grade in the class. My heart pounding and my arms shaking, I methodically turned my research paper over. I could only stare at the letter grade up in the top right hand corner. Speechless, words could not enough to express how I felt. My dad always told me, “ Learn how to learn.” Those words that did not mean anything to me for the longest time became amplified. I knew that the lessons I had learned from writing the paper were more important than the grade itself. It all started at the beginning of junior year.

Seeing C, after C on my algebra 1 report card, I believed I had lost my efficiency i math. After going from an A math student, to a C math student, I knew that it was not me that was failing. I revealed to my eighth grade teacher just how much I was struggling, but he kept putting off time for me, knowing he was the only resource I had at the time. I felt anger towards him for ignoring my questions, and towards the school for allowing thirty-five students to be in one classroom, not worrying about the amount of support each student was getting.

I was back in the same principal’s office when I got the news that I didn’t cut it. I failed that test, and barely past the others. I tested in at a ninth-grade level based on my performance on only four tests. It didn’t seem fair. Sitting in the car alone I cried, wondering if I had been stupid all along. My mother was gone for several minutes, I don’t know how long to be exact before she came back. “You’re going to be graduating with the tenth graders.” Those words didn’t make sense to me, the school turned me down, I had failed.

At first, Algebra was easy and straightforward, like jumping into uncharted water. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, with a blink of an eye, until first semester came to an end. Despite the success I had gained through the first semester, second semester began. Complications in math started to kick in second semester. I would go in after school for help with my terrifying teacher, Mrs. Oyamot. Sometimes I was too scared to ask for help, which is why I struggled in her class. From then on, I realized the path I was going down was going to be a rough one. Little by little, as time passed, my struggle turned into feeling lost and confused. I felt horrible and devastated, like a woman grieving after her husband’s death. I stopped going in for help after feeling scared and guilty, simultaneously. It came to the point where I stopped showing my parents my tests or quizzes like I always did before. I was afraid to show them. I had many chances to bring up my scores, but didn’t take advantage of the opportunity, and that’s the one thing I regret the most. My test grades descended, and constantly stayed below average, like a heart that