High school is the perfect time for an adolescent to gain important qualities that will be useful throughout his life. The characteristics gained during high school can shape a man’s future and help him determine his career. Jesuit High School has developed a profile that states the five main areas that it hopes its students will excel in by the time they graduate. Now that I have eclipsed the half way point of my high school career, I believe that I have improved most in these two categories: “Open to Growth” and “Intellectually Competent.” Over the past three years, I have become more open to growth in many ways. Since entering Jesuit for my eighth grade year, I have definitely become “increasingly aware that [my] physical condition …show more content…
Upon entering the course, I had great difficulty with the style of questions—the questions are more document-based or indirect questions that require critical thinking rather than asking for hard facts. In the first quarter, I somehow managed to pull off getting a high B despite my inability to adjust to the teaching methods of the class. Now, although I still do not find the course easy, I am much more familiar with the AP format and am able to use logical skills and critical thinking to figure out problems that I am unsure about. Along with improving my critical thinking, AP American History has helped me “relate current issues and perspectives to some of their historical antecedents.” In my previous history classes, I succeeded merely by memorizing facts and information. However, American History has changed my strategy. Like many historians, Mr. Rossi, my American History teacher, is a firm believer that history repeats itself. I have learned in the course that in each century of American History, the people have leaned in conservative or liberal ways during certain centuries. For example, the 20’s, 50’s, 80’s, and 90’s have been