My Top Ten

1. Getting through freshman year midterms.  I was unbelievably stressed at this new experience and getting through felt like a huge accomplishment.  Now, I would like to travel back and tell myself, “Enjoy this time!” as school would get a little trickier in the coming years (Currie 1).
2. Finishing my first SOAPSTone.  Those 9 pages felt like the most difficult school related task I’d ever have- that is, until I was introduced to the data sheet.  Now, it’s “hard for me to have a clear mind thinking on it” in comparison (Kesey 8).
3. On that note, turning in my first data sheet.  Flipping through the typed final copy was an amazingly satisfying feeling, especially in that giddy, sleep-deprived high we AP English students know so well.  And even though one lovely narrator stated that “no one likes change unless it is from something bad to something good,” the emotional pay off for this assignment was exponentially bigger (Curie 7).
4. Writing the last in-class essay for English.  Walking out of the room and feeling completely done with that extremely stressful “task, burden, privilege, whatever you call it” was a relief that was almost (again, ALMOST) worth the stress (Currie 9).
5. Learning antiderivatives in Calculus.  It was the first math that looked completely like a different language, and it made me feel extremely accomplished to know what it meant.  Usually, at this point, “‘I can’t bear looking at things” math-related, but this was fascinating (Wilde 17).
6. Reading my first word in Arabic.  Although it was three letters long (and extremely simple- “bab” means door for anyone who’s interested), it was amazing to look at what had previously been squiggles and see meaning behind it.  Although I do fear that “I look quite plain after my [Arabic] lesson” because, now, I have no idea what’s happening in that class (Wilde 21).
7. Developing my first actual picture in photo.  Like Arabic, it was a completely new experience, and it was mind blowing to see the image appear on the blank piece of paper.  At first, you had to “strain and look at the things that appeared in front of you,” but then it became clear, a really interesting transition to watch (Kesey 131).
8. The first time using a Bunsen burner in Chemistry.  It was where I learned how to light a match and, truthfully, playing with fire is just plain fun.  It was “funny orange.  Like the tip of a soldering iron” (Kesey 4).
9. Failing my first actual quiz.  It was math, freshman year.  It wasn’t, by any means, a highlight of my academic career, but I will surely remember it.  Thank goodness that, according to Lady Bracknell, “Education produces no effect whatsoever” (Wilde 13).
10. My first sticker on a paper in English.  I pretty much freaked out.  In regards to me and stickers in this class, “The two things rarely go together” (Wilde 8).