Wednesday, May 7, 2008

The Examination Looms

It's finally May and 'tis the season for the annual advanced placement exams. Thanks to block scheduling at my school, I've had the chance to take an AP course as a sophomore--world history. Although the class finished a few months ago, the studying continues due to the upcoming exam. If all goes well, I hope to earn college credit for months of note taking, essay writing, reading, and lectures. World history has been an interesting class from the start. It's the first class I've taken with extensive lectures, which weren't as grueling as I would have thought. If I fail the AP exam, the class itself would still have been extremely valuable for college preparation. I wouldn't say the class completely equates to an actual college course--there were lots of inside jokes and the grades were nicely curved. But all the same, it has been an enriching challenge.

This past month has been a scramble, though! I've been attempting to re-read the entire textbook, write essays, and quiz myself. There are been two study sessions this week (which help a great deal). The wierd thing is that I've even had some dreams about world history. Like, when I was taking a nap, I had a dream about the spread of Islam through sub-Saharan Africa. The textook is beginning to control me...it's a conspiracy. If this is a sample of what college is like, I'm in for more than a treat. Although, there will be a brunch the morning of the exam, which may lighten the load just a little. I'll just be happy to be done with the test to get rid of all the hooplah. Only eight days and counting...

3 comments:

thepapercut said...

College is alot more studying then high school ever was.

BrightBoy said...

Ha ha, it's so funny that you're actually dreaming about your history class.

Most AP exams aren't very hard, and the classes themselves are barely ever challenging, certainly not equivalent to a college course.

I had one teacher in the course of my entire high school career who challenged me more than all of the others, and he was my AP European History instructor.

That man was a genius, and his class remains the hardest and most rewarding I have ever taken, including those at university.

Men like him, however, are rare, and courses like his are as well.

I wouldn't worry too much about the AP exams. I'm sure you'll do fine.

Anonymous said...

I had a nightmare last night that I got a 2 on the exam...apparently I completely failed one of the essays...