Overcoming the odds in AP Calc BC by Eric

Overcoming the odds in AP Calc BC by Eric - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

Last year was one of the more stressful and nerve-wracking times of my life. It was my junior year, and, as many in my school had, I had chosen to make that year my most difficult year of high school, taking three honors classes and two AP classes. Additionally, I had unknowingly put myself in the unenviable world of AP Calculus BC.

The first two months went fine, and lulled me into a false sense of security. However, just a short chapter or two later, I found myself up to my neck in trouble. I was drowning in a pool of derivatives, integrals, and limits. Test after test came back with grades that I was not used to, and, frankly, it rattled me. Never had I struggled that much in my class. Even worse, I knew the AP test lay ahead, and I needed a five on it in order to guarantee that my college options would even consider accepting my time spent in that class for college credit.

Thankfully though, my teacher did an amazing job helping me understand the content I had not gotten a grip on the first time around. Without her, I am sure I would not have been as prepared as I was for the AP exam. When the day came for the AP test, it went without saying that I was beyond nervous. However, I knew in the back of my mind that I was as prepared as I was going to be. I remember after the test, I felt pretty good. Talking to many of my classmates, we confirmed that each other that the test did indeed seem rather easy, and that gave us a lot of confidence in our performance. However, that nagging nervousness bugged me until the test scores came out.

I remember exactly where I was when I found out. It was at the Cedar Point amusement park, near the Millenium Force. I got an email saying scores had been released, and I immediately checked it. All I remember after that was bouncing up and down and screaming for a solid ten seconds (much to the embarrassment of my family besides me). I had gotten a five on the test, and I was overjoyed. I truly believe that the preparation for that test and the result I got on it was the greatest achievement of my high school career.