The coming of the Good Friday three weeks ago was holy.
The coming of the Second Good Friday the week after in KIS, marking the beginning of spring break, was jolly.
I stood in the middle of the junior hall and took the moment to
feel: the cool spring breeze, the sun, the excited chatting and joyous
laughing. It's been so long since I actually felt like the school is
alive.
I had the time, I had the peace, I had the perfect weather, and....I
had the dentist appointment. The metal blocks on my teeth, hideously
tied with a wire, not only were making my face look dorky-er, but also
were stealing my jolly friday away. Sending mucho gloomy goodbyes to my
rejoicing friends, I left off to the bus stop.
Thankfully, my very very nice friend Gina
joined me on the bus to the dentist because her house was nearby. This
made me feel extra large happy because I have been secretly wishing
that we would have our time back to spend together, like we used to
before.
As usual, Gina and I began to talk about school, the hottest topic of
all students' worldwide. And then, we came to the point of asking "Why
are we learning these subjects like calculus and biology anyways? What
are we gaining from all the brutal AP courses?"
I knew that this question can be ignored so easily as it is questioned
so often. However, I kept the question deep inside my brain and thought
about it on my way back home. "What did all those AP courses teach me so far? - Because whenever I step into its presence, everything becomes a blur."
Eventually, I came up with some solutions.
What I gained from my AP (Advanced Placement) courses:
1. Advanced Procrastination
- Your procrastination becomes high class and most definitely, the aftermath of it becomes high class also.
2. Advanced Stamina
- The AP textbooks are really heavy. You might find some arm muscles by the end of the school year.
3. Advanced Moksha* (How to face 'F's / How to be thankful for 'C's and 'B's)
- 'F' becomes a no big deal. Depending on the class level, 'B's or 'C's
becomes a blessing from the teacher. We no longer find ourselves crying
over or complaining about these grades. In other words, we come to the
state of nirvana of school grades.
4. Advanced Speed
- You'll be amazed by how fast you can manage to finish up your home
work just 5 minutes (or even 30 seconds) before class. It is awfully
essential that you have this skill. In addition, the course itself is
very speedy because you have a lot to learn in such a short time.
5. Advanced Sleeping
- AP exams and sleep are like the two different sides (N & S) of
the magnets; There is a highly powerful attraction between those two.
6. Advanced Spending
- AP test prep book is a must buy if you are taking any AP course.
Furthermore, many people go to expensive institutes or pay private
tutors a great chunk of money to get a higher grade. (My parents are
very much against this though.)
7. Advanced Stress
- As long as you have APs, stress will always be there with you. From
the very first step, choosing which AP to take, you get stressed out.
I'm sure there are a whole lot more to be added to this list. But I should get offline and try to add 'Advanced Studying' on to the list. There's a long way to go tonight.
zai jian!
*Moksha - A state known as Nirvana. A state of higher consciousness in Hinduism. Desire-less state.
( Photo Credit to David Suter, New York Times Company / This blog post was originally written at E S P I A L)
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