A Day in My Life

With fall break and the merriment of Thanksgiving season having faded, my thoughts return to more academic-minded things. As a senior in high school I'm ready to charge through the rest of second semester and hopefully emerge with some degree of mental stability for the Christmas season.

What does your school day look like?

Personally, my day is filled with enough variety and interesting knowledge to keep me engaged from 7:30 to the much anticipated release bell at 2:30. Let me show you what a typical day looks like for me.

1st Hour - Econonomonics...

...or something like that. Nobody uses the full name anyway, right? I start off with econ, a snoozer class if there ever was one. Jokes aside, I learn enough practical, sensible material. I'm sure there's much to be learned about the facets and intricacies of the Law of Demand and the Law of Supply, but to be honest these topics don't interest me. Maybe it's because the book is written at a level appropriate for elementary intellect, but I conserve my energy for more important classes.

Like lunch (more on that later).

2nd Hour - AP Government

This is, in high-school jargon, a legit class for sure. As if the electoral college and the legislative process weren't complicated enough, this class steps up the difficulty a notch by assuming the "AP" prefix. AP stands for advanced placement, essentially a formality that really means the class will cause late night study sessions, grueling essays, and pre-test anxiety. But the quality of the class certainly supercedes these frustrations. My teacher is a brilliant history and political guru and I must admit I do enjoy the in-depth information and rich class experience.

3rd Hour - Multivariate Calculus

The class name may be intimidating, but the class itself is fairly laid-back and casual. I'm definitely fascinated by the applications of seemingly abstract mathematical concepts. Isn't it intriguing that you can calculate the volume of a solid by taking the triple integral over the appropriate region, maybe in another coordinate system? Those who have survived the rigor of 1st year Calculus in my school are awarded with a relateively stress-free math class that further explores calculus with applications in multiple dimensions and coordinate systems. Advanced math is a real joy, but then again I am a math geek.

4th/5th Hour - AP Physics

Uh oh, another AP level class. But I really enjoy the material we learn in class. The only topic I enjoyed in regular physics was Newtonian Mechanics, and fortunately AP Physics focuses solely on that. From calculating bullet trajectories to determining the centripetal acceleration of a roller coaster, this class provides a fun challenge in an engaging and dynamic way. The only downside is that, at this point in the day, I'm absolutely famished.

6th Hour - Liberation and Feasting (aka Lunch)

Thank goodness for cafeteria food! Actually, the mystery meat, discolored vegetables, expired milk, and suspiciously deformed fruits aren't all bad. In fact, every now and then you can indulge yourself with a quality meal, like the taco meal. Also, PopTarts are always a welcome supplement if your meal looks rather meager that day.

I usually don't mind the processed taste of cafeteria food; at this point I'm just looking for something to appease my raging stomach. I suppose nutrition is important too: I always make sure to make my meal balanced with an apple and some vegetable. Plus, who doesn't like an extra 30 minutes to chat with your buddies?

7th/8th Hour - Spanish

Ah Spanish, the bane of my day. Realistically I can't stand the teacher for several reasons, but at the heart of the class is pure, beautiful Spanish. Ever since I first learned about verb conjugations I was captivated by the phonetic simplicity and fluidity of the Spanish language. I truly enjoy learning Spanish grammar and vocabulary, especially practical vocab. I have to ridicule my Spanish book for forcing upon students such abstract or obscure terms that would rarely be used in any conversation. Seriously, how often do you talk about a "social action project" or an "itinerary"? All this while we haven't officially learned the Spanish terms for "tree" or "road". Still, I admire Spanish and enjoy exploring new verb tenses and new ways of expressing ideas in the language.

9th Hour - AP English 12

I'm not sure why, but incredibly this English class is the easiest I've taken in all of high school. Don't get me wrong, though. The class requires an immense amount of writing and comprehensive reading, but as a whole the class has a relaxed vibe. As for the actual material, I enjoy learning vocabulary words that endow upon you a sense of esteemed intellect of some sort. At least that's what I feel; I'm sure most just consider me pedantic. I'm also enamored by the brilliance and richness of the elevated writing style of some authors. Sometimes it can be hard to follow a book because of its excessively grandiloquent diction, but I relish the challenge. All in all, this class is a great intellectual experience.

10th Hour - AP Computer Programming

Ah yes, the effective study hall of my day. This class is rather unique in that the work I have to do for it is very challenging and arduous, but I am rarely productive during classtime. I always complete my assigned projects, though, and I love the logic used in developing and writing programs to accomplish a specific set of tasks. I proudly consider myself a computer nerd for this. Still, the powerful feeling of success and accomplishment after completing a program is unparalleled.

In Conclusion

This is when I insert some perfunctory conclusion format in my essay, right? "Absolutely not," my English teacher would say. I'll be honest and admit I'm not very good at reassembling my thoughts in a conclusion, but I'm always striving to improve. I hope you enjoyed seeing a glimpse of my daily class schedule, and hopefully I stretched your brain a little with some fresh vocabulary. I encourage you to find big words of your own, and use them around your friends; big words can be quite humorous sometimes.

Just don't be a philosophunculist!

Kinderseite