AP Calculus and the Joy of Learning by Leslie

AP Calculus and the Joy of Learning by Leslie - December 2024 Scholarship Essay

I am an aspiring engineering student, and my AP Calculus class has certainly posed some academic challenges. Our most unit was quite difficult. We have spent the last few months learning how to take derivatives and now we get to learn how to apply it. I do not come from a very educated family. Both of my parents barely finished high school, and I am a first generation college student. I hear all the time, “Why are you learning this stuff? You ain’t ever gonna use it!”. This unit in calculus proves my family wrong. It was so hard to learn (as calculus tends to be). I remember sitting in my teacher assistant block, working on practice problems, and simply wanting to start crying or throwing things. It simply was not making any sense. And then I turned to organic chemistry tutor on YouTube and suddenly the wheels started turning. Out of nowhere, my situation completely flipped. Then I did some more, and more, and more. That frustration, that pain turned into joy. The joy of learning something new, the joy of pure understanding is one of my favorite feelings ever. It is a sense of euphoria and wonder that is incredibly addictive. If that experience taught me anything it is that hard work pays off. Yes, I spent five hours trying to learn one concept, but I stuck to it. I am a person who is relentless in their pursuit of knowledge. And I plan to stick to that when I go to engineering school, and my coursework gets inevitably harder. lol