Ap English Class Reflection

“Good afternoon class! Please clear off your desk and get out a pen or pencil.” It was only after I had run across the building that I heard this phrase, feared by so many. It is this phrase that is so often used to doom students to weekends filled with nothing but chores, misery and the inevitable grounding. After my teacher spoke, I got the feeling that a family of frogs had just taken up residence in my throat and stomach. I knew what she was about to make us do and I also knew that it meant one more failed attempt to succeed at something that was unattainable—a perfect score on the AP Literature multiple choice practice test.

As she began to explain what this horrible quiz would entail, I began to reminisce on past English class experiences.

Previously, school had always been an easy thing for me and I never struggled for any of the grades I received. However, it now occurred to me that school required hard work. Working at these multiple choice questions was the only to accomplish my ultimate goal—perfection. So I worked through the quiz question by question and line by line. That ten question quiz, which I interpreted to be Chinese, took me the whole hour to complete. Right as the bell was sounding I turned it in with a renewed sense of hope. When it was finally returned, I was surprised by the results. After all of my hard work, effort and thought, I saw the grade which I had earned—a 40

After much time and consideration, I realized that striving for perfection was not and never would be realistic. After recalling various memories in my life, it occurred to me that as long as I could remember I wanted to be perfect. I wanted the best grades, be involved in the best extra-curriculars and do the best things. I now realized that I never was perfect and was never going to be perfect because there was no such thing. It didn’t matter that I had failed every single practice test because, I mean heck, the tests weren’t actually worth that much in my overall grade in the class. What mattered was that I improved my score with my