“If you find that this course is too hard, you can always drop to normal Physics 1,” said my physics teacher.
Those words lingered in my mind as I stared at my test sheet. I had just gotten back the first unit test in AP Physics, and it was not pretty, as I saw a “66” circled on the top right of the front page.
I knew that I would get a bad grade. It was on Kinematics, something I thought I understood throughout the unit, but come test day I realized that I did not actually understand the material that well and felt lost during the test. If this is what the rest of the school year is going to look like, I’m going to have a rough year, I thought.
This was the first time that I struggled in a class. Before, if I got a bad grade on a test, I would know what went wrong and how to fix it for the next test. However, in this case I had no confidence that I could find a way to improve for the next unit.
At my school, we had the option to take AP Physics C without taking Physics 1, which I decided to take as a challenge, as junior year was the most important year in terms of academics. I had done some prep the summer before but retained minimal knowledge of what I learned when school started.
For the rest of the day, I couldn’t stop thinking about the test. It tempted me to drop the course, as that test felt too challenging. I couldn’t imagine having to stay up late studying physics for the rest of junior year. That option of dropping to Physics 1 looked very favorable, as I would struggle a lot less and would free up some time for me to do other coursework. But I chose to take this class. All I need to do is adjust my studying and learning habits to better fit this class. If I drop out now, I may regret it in the future, I thought.
For the entire week, I couldn’t make up my mind about whether to drop the class. I asked friends, classmates, and even my physics teacher about the matter, but I still couldn’t decide. Eventually, I started leaning towards dropping the class, but wanted to take another test before I made up my mind.
Fortunately, I got the chance. There would be a unit 2 test a week before the deadline for dropping classes. I wouldn’t get my score back in time, but at least I could take the test. I prepared really hard for it. I did numerous practice problems to make sure I fully understood the material, and made sure I understood all the physics concepts fully. When test day came, I nervously sat on my desk and said to myself, you got nothing to lose. Just try your best. If it’s too hard, you can always drop the course. As soon as all the tests were handed out, I flipped to the next page, and began.
After the test was finished, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I felt the test was still hard, but I understood everything and knew what to do, and that’s what mattered. I still wanted to drop the class as it would make the school year easier, but that test made me feel more comfortable about that course.
Finally, after weeks of debating, I decided to continue taking that class. No matter how difficult it’ll be, I’ll never quit.
Those words lingered in my mind as I stared at my test sheet. I had just gotten back the first unit test in AP Physics, and it was not pretty, as I saw a “66” circled on the top right of the front page.
I knew that I would get a bad grade. It was on Kinematics, something I thought I understood throughout the unit, but come test day I realized that I did not actually understand the material that well and felt lost during the test. If this is what the rest of the school year is going to look like, I’m going to have a rough year, I thought.
This was the first time that I struggled in a class. Before, if I got a bad grade on a test, I would know what went wrong and how to fix it for the next test. However, in this case I had no confidence that I could find a way to improve for the next unit.
At my school, we had the option to take AP Physics C without taking Physics 1, which I decided to take as a challenge, as junior year was the most important year in terms of academics. I had done some prep the summer before but retained minimal knowledge of what I learned when school started.
For the rest of the day, I couldn’t stop thinking about the test. It tempted me to drop the course, as that test felt too challenging. I couldn’t imagine having to stay up late studying physics for the rest of junior year. That option of dropping to Physics 1 looked very favorable, as I would struggle a lot less and would free up some time for me to do other coursework. But I chose to take this class. All I need to do is adjust my studying and learning habits to better fit this class. If I drop out now, I may regret it in the future, I thought.
For the entire week, I couldn’t make up my mind about whether to drop the class. I asked friends, classmates, and even my physics teacher about the matter, but I still couldn’t decide. Eventually, I started leaning towards dropping the class, but wanted to take another test before I made up my mind.
Fortunately, I got the chance. There would be a unit 2 test a week before the deadline for dropping classes. I wouldn’t get my score back in time, but at least I could take the test. I prepared really hard for it. I did numerous practice problems to make sure I fully understood the material, and made sure I understood all the physics concepts fully. When test day came, I nervously sat on my desk and said to myself, you got nothing to lose. Just try your best. If it’s too hard, you can always drop the course. As soon as all the tests were handed out, I flipped to the next page, and began.
After the test was finished, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I felt the test was still hard, but I understood everything and knew what to do, and that’s what mattered. I still wanted to drop the class as it would make the school year easier, but that test made me feel more comfortable about that course.
Finally, after weeks of debating, I decided to continue taking that class. No matter how difficult it’ll be, I’ll never quit.