Study, Study, Study by Anna

Study, Study, Study by Anna - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

After only one year of being in high school, Junior year, the hardest year I was told by my friends had arrived. In fact junior year was nearly over. The end of the year came faster than I thought. It felt like it was just September and my teachers were warning us that the AP exam was only eight months away. “That’s so far away, we have plenty of time!” I thought. But by the time I knew it it was April and our teachers said “Alright time to review for the AP exam.” three different times. Yes, three AP exams was what I was expected to do.

The AP exam as everyone knows isn’t just a normal test that can be studied for the night before. It was an exam that students take a whole year to study for, How does a student then study for everything before the exam? Although I had taken an AP exam before it was a big deal to be studying for three exams that occurred within the the same week or the week after. I knew this year I didn’t want to do what I had done to “study” for my first AP Exam which was plan to study, don’t study, then two days before the exam in an attempt to compensate for not studying watch crash course videos until falling asleep (which didn’t take long because it was ten o’clock at night and I was already tired as it was) I may have passed the exam but I definitely did not feel confident. I was determined to feel confident this time when walking into that exam room. This time I made a real plan to study for each exam. One month before the exam date I planned to commit two weeks before each exam to study. The first week would be preparing test prep items and the second week would consist of studying those items.

Following through with this plan by making charts, timelines, study booklets, taking practice tests, and going to the study sessions I was offered was the greatest school accomplishment for me because I did not just pass all three of the exams but it showed me that if I put my mind to something and I really put work into it, the goal that seemed impossible wouldn’t seem far away as effort was put into it. It was also a new experience that taught myself new ways to study and uncovered new ways for me to learn information. I didn't just have to study by reading the textbook or my notes, I could do so much more with that notebook holding one year's worth of notes. Making the study material myself was an additional school accomplishment I gained from following through with this plan because it was all me. I studied of all my own work which made the success of passing the exams even better because it was from all of me. Of course on exam day I was nervous not because I didn't study but because its an exam what else do I have to say?