<p>I’m sorry… and I know this is not a FUN thing to go through, but it’s not the end of the world. Making overdramatic claims like “my future is ruined” because of a trip to France is really not the truth – take a moment to realize that. </p>
<p>One-- once I had to miss a week of school for a family thing and it was a month or so before APs. Like you, it was my junior year and I was taking AP US. I approached my teacher and asked him for the work, and he just laughed at me and said, “it’s American History-- learn it.” So what did I do? I got an exam review book and read the chapters on my own free will. I got home having a solid understanding of the facts and material and was able to spend minimal time completing assignments.</p>
<p>Two – if all of this is going on in your life, you should be telling someone. You don’t have to perfectly tackle the world on your own. People care about you and want what’s best for you and will be there to listen to you and help you as best as they can. But now it’s like you’re desperately searching for excuses to explain why you didn’t perform perfectly. Take some responsibility – it’s not everyone else’s fault, and quite honestly, no one is trying to sabotage you. Explain to your guidance counselor what’s going on in your life, and when you’re starting your story, try and not get angry about two teachers and difficult assignments. Let them know that there is something serious going on in your life. It may not be the wisest thing for YOU to personally affix a letter with your college applications explaining everything (chances are it’ll look sort of bad and tacky), but it’s something your counselor very easily could. Try and get things squared away with your counselor-- make sure he or she knows where you’re coming from and take some advice from them to better your situation (not just fix the past two semesters) because that will ensure that your senior year which WILL be stressful and from the looks of it, learning how to better handle high-stress situations will be beneficial to you, because other than the trip, it doesn’t seem like stressful situations will leave your life.</p>
<p>Three-- Relax. Talk to your teachers. It takes time for them to change a grade because it IS summer. Your math teacher has a life and a family, and while that grade is your #1 priority, it’s far from being hers. It WILL happen-- and seeing as how a formal grade has been sent home, your teacher probably has to go through a more time consuming official process to change it.</p>
<p>Good luck, but please do relax.</p>