Freedom at last! Today is May 19.
For once I woke up at the completely reasonable time of 9:40 a.m., despite my mother’s best efforts to wake me up 40 minutes prior. I had asked her to make sure I didn’t sleep in too late today because I wanted to have enough time to wake up and study before taking my Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology exam in the early afternoon. I was in the middle of yet another strange dream, which I now can’t seem to recall, when I suddenly woke up to her knocking at my door. That would have been fine, but she’d accidentally mixed up when I’d asked her to get me up. Her confusion ultimately resulted in me flopping around in my bed and telling her in my barely conscious state to please leave and not to come back for at least another 30 minutes, thank you very much.
When I at last untangled myself from my blanket and got out of bed, I tossed on a sweatshirt and yoga pants, making my way to the living room to start my day. I had my last AP test of the year (in fact my last AP test of high school) at 1 p.m., so I planned to use the three hours I had before my exam to study, cram and organize to the best of my ability so I could easily access my notes and vocabulary during the test if I needed to.
In addition to watching two lengthy review videos the College Board made to help students prepare for the AP Psych exam, I also finished reading the last 10 pages from my AP Psych textbook on personality. All year, three of my friends and I have communicated via group text, sharing advice and words of comfort during stressful times. I reached out to them asking how they were feeling, and their responses resembled my own: nervous. There was little we could do at this point, however, except breathe and rely on our memories and notes to not fail us now.
The test started at about 1:01 p.m., and for the first 30 seconds I thought I’d have to request a make-up exam because my test questions weren’t loading. My moment of panic subsided, however, when the text I needed popped up on my screen. I immediately began reading, skimming for relevant information. I’d set up my Google Docs page prior to the exam with my AP ID number, initials and an A-H list so I could easily type my answers in the correct order. My first prompt dealt with a girl named Lily who was going off to college and how various psychological terms related to her success in adapting to college and how they may influence her decision to stay or leave following a few tests. For the most part I felt confident about applying each term, though I got a little nervous when I hit the submit button with only 15 seconds to spare.
With my second question I was far more at ease knowing I had completed the longest portion of the exam. I had to answer questions about a cupcake shop relating to a correlational study the shop owner, Ignacio, is conducting. As with the first question, I felt prepared and was able to complete this section with three minutes to spare. When I hit submit for the final part of the exam, I could feel a weight lift off my chest. It seems I’d been more worried about my four AP exams than I’d initially realized.
To celebrate yet another marker signifying the end of my high school career, my mom suggested she and I go out to Andy’s Frozen Custard to pick up a treat. My dad and brother were out playing tennis, so we stopped by the courts to drop off a grocery list with them, then headed on our way. I have no real context for what traffic is like in the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday, but I was surprised by how many cars and people I saw out and about or at stores. I’ve been nearly completely isolated for about nine weeks at this point. Even though I wish I could be having a regular end to my high school career and hang out with friends or do fun activities around town with my family, I have too much respect for myself and for others to risk putting anyone around me in danger by unintentionally spreading the coronavirus.
My mom and I ate our custards on the car ride home, which was a nice experience. When my brother and dad got back to our house, we all unpacked and wiped down groceries together. I’d spent some time earlier in the day completing various forms for high school. They mostly dealt with my post-secondary plans and requested my final transcript be sent to the college I’m attending next year. I’m certain my parents are glad they can stop nagging me about finishing that work now. After my dad and brother cleaned up from tennis, we all headed downstairs to watch the third season of Slings & Arrows (which is about William Shakespeare’s King Lear) and eat appetizers together.
During the next few days I’m going to write my nice notes (a long standing end-of-year tradition) for journalism, so I’m booking in several hours of intense emotions and crying. I have so many memories from this year and am grateful for all the connections I’ve made, so I really want to make sure each nice note I write fully expresses and captures the depth of the relationship I’ve tried to make with each staff member. I tend to ramble, so I’ll try not to write too much, but if and when I do, I’ll just hope they all know it comes from my heart.
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” ― Dolly Parton
How did you spend your 63rd day of social distancing? Let us know in the comments below.
