My 12 AP experience

     English has always been one of my favorite things to do while also being a constant struggle, I think that's how it's supposed to work. Last year when English switched online it was mostly a struggle, the focus of the course was directed towards just the AP exam. Then came college essays, which were another English-related stress, but for most of this last semester, English has been my favorite class. I used to dread in-class essays because it was so hard to organize my thoughts under a timer in class and everyone around me was so distracting, but now they feel like a small part of the class that I am able to get through. This semester I've realized that I'm not too bad at timed writing and getting over the fear of it may make me better when it is time to go back in-seat, whether that is this year or in college. Essays are definitely not the reason I like this class though, I just really enjoy discussion-based classes and I feel like we do that all the time. I also like how our feedback was taken into account all the time, which is not something a lot of my teachers were willing to do. 

    One of the most important skills I gained was probably being able to recognize patterns in text and how similar patterns can be found in other texts or forms of media. I often used to wonder how people wrote entire books whether they were novels, biographies, or even textbooks and if I could ever do such a thing. Learning that there is actually a lot more formulation and predictability behind texts and media was almost groundbreaking in my understanding of it. Last year, learning about strategies that author's used more often made me dislike reading because of how dry and technical it made it but I eventually got used to dissecting the purpose symbols and figurative language and now it almost makes it easier to consume books and shows. Knowing why different events happen makes it easier to reflect on a piece rather than reading or watching it all and then thinking about it later- I guess that's the entire purpose of honors and AP English classes. I'm glad it's working :)