tfw your apush teacher has a test over 120 pages and has questions over stuff mentioned in one sentence no exaggeration. Why is this class so hard uggg
I got through my first Trig test of the year and the first in-class timed writing for AP Lang! I feel so satisfied I did both decently, the in-class AP Lang writing having gone much better than the first in-class timed writing for APUSH last year.
I don’t know my score but…I do believe I did ‘decently’.
This week has mostly been welcome-back and syllabus stuff
Here’s my to-do list for the weekend:
- ACT (leaving in 20 mins lol)
- Make a Key Club banner for our homecoming parade
- Make a couple club flyers for our club fair
- Watch football (it’s not academic but hey it’s the first week of the season)
- AP Econ worksheets
- Study for math quiz
I had two tests in the same day, and they were both for my AP classes 
my AP Lit test was on one of the summer readings we had to do (A Doll’s House), but it wasn’t that bad because it was open book and you could work in partners/groups. My APUSH test, on the other hand, was probably one of the hardest tests I’ve taken (not including regents and AP tests haha) because it was on the summer reading and we had multiple choice AND 3 short answers to do. Worst part was that we had a shortened period during APUSH because we had an assembly, so we had less time to do a lot of work. I won’t know how I did on either test until Monday, probably.
So I know the first, or second, week of school has just ended for most of us, so I thought it would a good idea to do projected class grades for the quarter/teacher and class reviews. I’ll start:
Spanish 2
Projected Grade for 1st Quarter: A
Review: I think this class is going to be really fun. Our teacher is great and funny. I also really like the way the class is set up. My tablemates are great too. Overall, it seems like it’s going to be a good year in this class.
Functions/Trigonometry
Project Grade for 1st Quarter: A (Hopefully)
Review: So we just took our quiz today and apparently, most of the class didn’t do well, me included. I’m not sure of the way he teaches. I feel like the textbook is going to be my friend this year, because it looks like I’m going to be studying a lot for this one. It’s a really good thing the test raises the quiz grade up. Overall, the class feels pretty boring and has me constantly staring at the clock.
Engineering Explorations
Projected Grade for 1st Quarter: A
Review: I didn’t think we’d have much homework for this class, but we’ve already had one PowerPoint to do. Our teacher said the true engineering will start next week. We’re going start our unit on 3D modeling and CAD. Overall, this seems likes a really cool class.
AP English Language
Projected Grade for 1st Quarter: A
Review: I honestly love Mrs. B and our class. She literally gives out no homework and is really nice, in a way. I remember one time when I left my phone in my math class, I asked if I could go get it and she jokingly said, “Hurry up, you idiot!”. :)) (I know that may sound really bad, but I was not offended at all.) Yesterday, we read a newspaper, The Washington Post, and we had a HUGE debate over the reality of Trump’s America. After that, we read an article about why parents are preventing their kids from getting Liberal Arts degrees and forcing them into STEM careers. I thought it was a very interesting article. I’m definitely going to like this class overall.
PLTW Principles of Engineering
Projected Grade for 1st Quarter: A
Review: This class seems pretty straight-forward! We’ve had lectures and started taking apart the VEX stuff from last year. This will be a great class.
U.S. and Virginia History
Projected Grade for 1st Quarter: A
Review: I think this class will be okay, except for these three girls who don’t know how to shut up and listen! Seriously, all they do is sit there and laugh and gossip. It’s literally the second week and everyone who sat near them, including me, moved to the opposite side of the room. We were shown a video about 9/11 yesterday and they disrespectfully laughed through most of it as they were having a conservation. I mean, the least they could do is just look at their phones and just be quiet. It was a very sad video, especially for those who were affected by the attacks, me included. I was honestly really close to just telling them to shut up myself. I think other than that, this class will be okay.
AP Chemistry
Projected Grade for 1st Quarter: B
Review: I think I’ll do okay in this class. The teacher is really helpful too.
I also have a bunch of homework this weekend:
For Spanish 2: Finish Pages 1 - 3 of Activity Packet
For Functions/Trig: Study for Transformations Quiz on Tuesday
For Engineering Explorations/Robotics: None
For AP English Language: None
For Principles of Engineering Do Practice Problems on Mechanical Advantage
For U.S. and Virginia History: Finish DBQ on The Salem Witch Trials
For AP Chemistry: Watch Online Lecture on Stoichiometry and Study for Quiz on Monday
The following post is related towards September 11th attacks. Since this is a very touchy subject for many, those who do not want to read it, do not have to. I know this is not the main purpose of this thread, but I had wanted to go ahead and share my story of what happened that day. I also want to hear how other people viewed this day. If you have any stories to share, feel free. You may even PM me if you would like. This is a story I do not tell often due to culture of the story itself. Be warned, it is pretty sad.
I wanted to go ahead and share a story with you guys. Being that the 15th anniversary of 9/11 is tomorrow, I would like to go ahead and share a story of what happened to me that day. My parents actually shared this story with me as I was too young to really remember anything. You definitely do not have to read it if you don’t want to, as it is kind of a sad story.
So on that day, like any normal day back then, my parents were at work while I was in daycare. My parents both worked at the same hospital in Alexandria, Virginia while I was at a daycare in the same city. About 5 minutes after the attacks, the workers were notified that a plane had just hit one of the Twin Towers in New York. They turned on the news for everyone to see what had happened. My parents and their co-workers all gathered around a TV for a minute to see what had just taken place. Everyone was devastated. Some had started to cry and my father assumed that those who did likely had family near there. After that, they all just tried to go about their day, even though pretty much everyone was in shock. My parents, having some family in NYC, but tried to keep it together. Then the attack on The Pentagon happened, leading my parents to be pretty mortified. They were, like almost everyone at the hospital, so shocked and dazed but they still tried to get their jobs done. My parents decided to go ahead and call the daycare where I was and they told them I was perfectly fine. During their lunch break, they drove over to come and make sure I was fine. My mom was in tears once she saw my smile. I was only about 16 months old at the time and didn’t really understand why she was crying. My father said my mom really wanted to take me with her, but knows she couldn’t. I believe I started crying as my mom left because she was still crying a bit. She went ahead and tried to put me to sleep before I left, which she did. Once they got back to the hospital, everyone seemed on edge. They all tried to focused, but seemed worried about their families, as they should. A few people decided to call or leave to make sure their families we okay. The place was in a kind of slight disarray for the rest of the day. Once my parents and I got home, they turned on the news to see what happened. My parents were mortified, my mom started to cry a little, and they quickly turned off the TV as I started to cry again. They thought it was because of the plane hitting the tower that I saw. They tried sleeping that night, but had trouble doing so. They were able to get ahold of our relatives in NYC eventually later in the night. It’s actually weird because out of all the things I remember from my infancy, I still remember seeing the image of the Pentagon, didn’t know what it was at the time, with smoke coming out of it. I believe it showed up in one of my nightmares once later in my childhood. I remember having a nightmare about a building with smoke coming out of it and, strangely enough, driving past it with me in my baby car seat looking out the window. I didn’t really know what to make of it back then.
In the years following my nightmare, my little brother, who was born a little less than a year after the attacks, saw what has happened since 9/11. He was horrified by the pictures of Middle Eastern children with blood splattered across their face and missing limbs. That night, he started to cry about how he thought that that was going to happen to him. I had to calm him down and tell him it wasn’t going to happen. I promised him it wasn’t going to happen. I honestly hope it never happens.
So that is my story (mainly my parents). I usually don’t share it too often as it is a pretty sad one.
I want to go ahead and take the time to say to anyone of Islamic faith who had nothing to do with the attacks: I DO NOT and WILL NEVER blame you for what happened that day. I am sorry for those of both innocent American and Middle Eastern citizenship who were injured or have died on 9/11 and the many years following. I am especially sorry those who have suffered discrimination everyday since the attacks. None of us deserve to live through what the aftermath of 9/11 has brought us.
I also encourage anyone who has a story about that day, or the days following to share it. I know that is not that main point of this thread, but I’m very curious to know how other people viewed the day.
I hope all of you are safe this weekend! Make sure to hug your family just a little tighter too.
@ak2018 I was just under a year old when 9/11 happened, and I don’t remember anything at all (probably for the best)
But I figured I would do a week review too. My predicted grade will be on a 100 scale, because I’m not too familiar with the letter grades as my school doesn’t use those. Classes with * next to them are weighted and get 5 points added to the grade at the end of each marking period.
Algebra 2
Grade: mid to high 90s
Review: This week was mostly about reviewing functions from Alg1, so it was easy. But the teacher gives help whenever asked and will explain something twice if needed during teaching the subject. Also, she said homework will be on things we have already learned in that class, and not the lesson currently being taught, so we don’t lose something after we move on during class.
Music Theory
Grade: mid to high 90s
Review: This class seems pretty relaxed so far, but I can tell that there is going to be a lot of information to digest. As someone who is only fluent in reading treble clef, learning to be fluent in bass clef and being able to translate tenor and alto clefs in one year will prove to be a challenge.
Music History
Grade: high 90s/possibly even a 100 in some marking periods
Review: This class is made up of me and my friend (a total of 2 students), so the teacher is changing his usual teaching method to better suit the smallest class he’s ever taught. This class will be fun and easy so far, and enough grades will be participation and projects that this has the potential to be my highest grade of all my classes!
Human and Social Biology:
Grade: mid to high 90s
Review: I’m going to come right out and say that this class is a fluff class in my school. It’s the alternative to taking Chemistry, and most of the students who take it are lower performers or underachievers. The reason I took this class is because I don’t like science and it fit into my schedule with all of the other classes I want to take. Also, because the only grades in the class are the notes you take on the videos and movies shown in class, it’s a less stressful class that I won’t have to worry about. Also, I love the teachers that teach the class!
AP Literature/Composition*
Grade: mid to high 90s
Review: I love the teaching style and the personality of this teacher so much! He makes reading dusty plays interesting, and even though he has lots of tests and Harkness discussions, I don’t even mind it because the class is so much fun!
AP US History*
Grade: low to mid 90s
Review: This class has a lot of work associated with it. The teacher said that we need to take notes from the textbook chapters every week and do a packet on each chapter, and that it would take around 8 hours every week. Count in the in class work and frequency of tests and this will definitely be my hardest class of the year. But the teacher is really cool, and is way nicer than compared to when I had him for 8th grade history.
My homework for this weekend is smaller than it originally was because I had lots of study hall time, but still will take the entire weekend:
APUSH: finish the Chapter 2 packet by Sunday night at 11:59 (this is on Google Classroom)
Music History: research and find materials for homemade instruments by class on Tuesday
I was kinda scared that Eid-al-Adha (one of the two Muslim celebrations) would fall tomorrow (it changes based on the lunar calendar) because that would lead to a bit of an interesting conversation: “What did you do this weekend?” “Oh, I had a religious holiday on Sunday.” “You’re a Muslim, right?” “Yeah.” Awkward silence. Thankfully, it will fall on Monday instead, but I will miss that day of school, so I’ll have a lot of makeup work to do.
@ak2018 I have never cried harder in my entire life. I hate when people blame everyone of Islamic faiths for those attacks and others.
@ak2018 My family was living in Russia when the attacks happened so we weren’t as directly affected right away. My dad saw the news on a TV in a store because we didn’t have a TV in our apartment at that time. It did affect my dad’s business though because he was trying to get Russian clients and then after that mistrust between America and the rest of the world those business relationships fell through. I think my mom was trying to start a trading type of company for like Russian crafts and stuff and 9/11 was a reason that fell through too.
My little brother’s birthday is today, the 10th, so its always kind of weird for me because everyone takes these few days to reflect about 9/11 but I have to celebrate for my brother too.
In other news, I took the ACT this morning!
The ACT test was only offered at a few high schools, so there were people from all over (it wasn’t my high school but its pretty close to where I live anyway.) I met a guy whos homeschooled but is doing the running start program like me and is going to be in my chemistry class! I didn’t know anyone in my classes before so that’s good.
@Marg532 Yeah, it’s probably for the best you don’t remember. I kind of wish I didn’t remember myself, it’s kind of good I do as I have some memory of what life was like before then.
Anyway, how does your school allow only two people to be in a class? You must have at least 10 people in a class at my school.
@Soccer1235 I just realized I’ll likely have a few friends absent on Eid too. Yeah, I could definitely how awkward that would be.
@FuturePICUNurse I do too! I honestly hope those of Islamic faith currently in America are not eventually put into internment camps, like Asian Americans were after Pearl Harbor.
@snowfairy137 I can definitely see how 9/11 would have affected America’s trust in the rest of the world. Russia and America, as everyone pretty much knows at this point, don’t exactly have the best relationship. With the whole communism and the Cold War going on, we haven’t been the best of friends.
Good job taking the ACT today. Hope you did well.
I think that my parents and I were living in England at the time, so we weren’t really affected either by it.
@ak2018 My school is pretty small, so their minimum requirement for a class is 3. There was another person scheduled for the class but it was really a misprint because they wanted to be in band, not Music History. So they just kept the class open because why not haha I’m lucky that my friend was able to fit it in her schedule because she didn’t think she would be able to, and I would’ve had to wait until next year to take the class.
Mine’s a little on the more light-hearted side. According to legend (I remember nothing about 9/11) I was home with my mom and we were watching sesame street when my dad called and told her what happened. She kept trying to put the news on but I cried whenever she changed the channel. I was 19 months old
To follow up on what @ak2018 wrote, I wanted to add my perspective… As a brown person.
During my middle school years, I was kinda a popular kid. I was a happy person, who made jokes, and played soccer… That’s it. Though there were those few time, when kids wanted to use their “middles school brains” to understand 9/11. They thought,“It was because of someone who was brown… Yea that’s it!” (I know not everyone thought of this sad event like this, but there were kids who did.) I was made fun of for being brown. I was told my future was going to reside as a cab driver, I would work at a subway, and also told that I would become a terrorist… Yea, I head that before.
Here is the thing though, I am not a Muslim and I don’t have any ties to Iraq (family wise), so why was I made fun of? Answer: Because no matter what type of brown person you were, you were brown… That is all they looked at; end of discussion!
To be honest, that really pissed me off. No one understood that I was just a hindu or that I was Indian… They just went right in for the kill.
I give my prayers to those who have lost their loved one’s in the 9/11 attack, and those who faced discrimination because of it. I think about this event nearly everyday. I can’t imagine what the people in the Towers and Pentagon had to deal with, and those outside of it at the time. I know this is a post full of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, but I am just writing my thoughts.