The Battle of May by Joshua

The Battle of May by Joshua - April 2019 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my high school career, I have faced a multitude of difficult test and exams. That being said, i appreciate and embrace the challenge as it better prepares me for the difficulties of college. So I looked for any and all honor/advance placement courses to fully challenge myself. Sophomore year I encountered a class called AP U.S. History. This is the story of how I was challenged and how I am still overcoming that academic difficulty.

When I heard that my school offered an advance placement U.S. history class, I knew I had to enroll in it. Ever since I was young history fascinated me. On the playground everyone would run and play tag while I would sit with my complete collection of U.S. presidents book and memorize their order of office. So I assumed that this class would be fairly easy for me and I could devote more of my attention to other classes. How very wrong I was to think that. From the start that class worked me harder than I had ever studied before. The deadlines piled up and the looming date of the AP test in May constantly made me stress.

This class made me restructure my entire life style. I was lucky enough to make it through middle school and even freshman year with little to no studying. AP U.S. History showed me that I couldn't do that forever and it taught me how to correctly set aside time to study. It was a class grade that had to be earned, and I had never come across anything like that. So it was a struggle at first to give of my lackadaisical ways of video games right after school until dinner. I now had a set aside "Study time" where I would isolate myself from all living inhabitants of my house, very similar to the Great George Washington isolating America from all other nations after the revolution.

Finally, it came time to that dreadful day in May for the AP test to be had. Me and my fellow students called it the first, of many, "Battle of May." I had studied all the content I could and did all the necessary steps and recommendations instructed. I gave all I could, but sadly it wasn't enough. I would find a couple months later that I had scored a 2, just a point shy of passing. But I did not entirely lose the "Battle of May." Through my struggling, I learned for the first time how to study and learn content, a skill I would need for college. As I mentioned before, this would not be the first Battle of May, i would take 3 more AP courses in my high school career. This year I am taking AP European History. Which is a class that, if I pass the test, will gain my College History credit that I lost from the AP U.S. History class. So in a way, I am still overcoming that academic struggle, and coming out of it more ready for college than I could have ever been.

A special thanks to my AP U.S. History teacher Mr. Hooper and AP European History teacher Mrs. Case. They have helped me in so many ways and have truly changed my life for the better.