We’re halfway there! Today is May 13.
I had a hard time falling asleep last night, even though I was tired and ready to shut my eyes. Around 1 a.m. I realized I’d left a special Advanced Placement (AP) Literature and Composition folder of quotes my dad had given me in the living room. Once I brought it back to my bedroom and put it next to where I sleep, however, I was able to turn my mind off. Apparently when my body isn’t completely amped up on anxiety and fear, I can sleep in because I didn’t get up until about 10 a.m.
I felt groggy and a little out of it, but I poured myself a bowl of cereal and watched the world wake up outside. Unlike yesterday when I was cramming and stressing about my AP Calculus AB test, today I knew there was no last-minute prep work I could possibly do that would help me on my test. Instead, I let my mind space out while I watched an episode or two of Travelers before my exam.
At 12:30 p.m. I logged into the AP exam browser and completed the identification questions. I realized that while I’d be typing my essay for the test, I would be on a Google Docs page instead of the test’s submission site, so I set a timer on my phone to go off when I had five minutes remaining. I’d have hated to put in the time, effort and energy into writing a solid essay simply for it all to be a waste because I missed my submission deadline.
About three minutes before my test started, I went downstairs with my computer and timer. I plugged my computer into our printer. I find being able to physically annotate a text is extremely helpful when trying to find connections and pick up on key details. I hoped there would be an easy “print” button on the test site, but as soon as the exam started, I realized there wasn’t one. I didn’t waste any time looking because I’d decided in advance I could just as easily screenshot the provided document and print that way. All in all, the process only took about two minutes of my test time and was well worth it.
I wasn’t expecting to read some well-known text, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was one hard to find an electronic version for, but I don’t think I was quite prepared to see my text was about an baron and his daughter in Germany in 1819. From what I’ve heard from my peers, they got text topics including a girl trapped on a boat, an Indian birthday party, a divorced man and his ex-wife, a school teacher from Chicago who moved to a small town, a rich doctor and his wife and a Malaysian fountain. I’m not sure what the themes of any of the other stories are, but I was surprised there were so many different texts. I feel sorry for the graders this year because they’ll be reading so many different responses.
The story I read was a little confusing, but I took my best stab at writing a solid, defensible thesis and supporting my claim with textual evidence and analysis. I think I accidentally supplanted and superimposed my own beliefs on female rights and equality into the context of the 1800s, but I tried hard to remain true to what I interpreted as the author’s message. I submitted my essay with 20 seconds to spare, but I’m pretty sure everything went smoothly.
Once I was done with my test, I talked about the story and my thesis with my dad. From what he said, I’m pretty sure I slightly misinterpreted the work, but I don’t think I was so out of the park that I won’t get credit. I’m hoping to get a five on the exam, but I’d be just as happy with a four. When we finished chatting, I went upstairs to have lunch. My mom and I decided to split our chef’s salad from a few nights ago, and it was delicious. We watched various birds come and go outside our kitchen window, and the entire atmosphere was calm and relaxing.
Later in the afternoon after I’d taken some time to myself, my dad and I watched Animal House, which is a movie set during the 1960s about a college fraternity. Every time my dad’s mentioned the movie he jokes that it’s about pigs in togas because when I was reading Animal Farm by George Orwell in middle school I accidentally called it Animal House when we were talking. I don’t think I’ll ever live that joke down. The movie wasn’t exactly my taste (especially to watch with my dad), and it is by no means politically correct or appropriate, but I did enjoy the gist of it. Animal House was a good film to watch to lighten my spirits and make me laugh.
I’m hoping I’ll be able to watch more interesting movies with my dad in the future, especially once I finish my last two AP tests next week. For now, I have to focus on studying if I want to have a fighting chance of getting high scores. I guess I’ll just have to see how much information my brain can hold before it explodes. When all the testing is over though, I can’t wait to do a movie marathon with my dad.
“Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.” ― Dean Vernon Wormer, Animal House
How did you spend your 57th day of social distancing? Let us know in the comments below.
