The Climb

As I walked through Drug Mart yesterday afternoon, I recognized “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus playing over the speakers. Consequently as I sat down last night to write my blog entry, about an hour later, I kept internally singing fragments of Cyrus’s song over and over again. After the initial frustration of being unable to stop singing the song passed, I realized that Cyrus’s song perfectly reflects my experiences in AP English and my personal transformation as a result of Ms. Serensky. After receiving my first graded essays junior year, I became discouraged. I figured that I would never learn to write and that I would “fail” AP English. However I worked hard and told myself  “I gotta keep trying.” Soon thereafter I acquired my first Ms. Serensky sticker. Through the numerous in-class discussions this year and last, I have become more comfortable with public speaking. I have learned not only to speak my mind but also to become assertive. When the daily discussions first began, I felt reluctant to talk after being cut off by a classmate once or twice. These discussions served as that “uphill battle [that]/Sometimes [I’ll] have to lose.” Although my participation grades were not always what I hoped, the discussions taught me numerous life lessons. The challenging in-class essays have opened my eyes to the fact that I can answer any question with patience, hard work and determination. Some questions might “knock me down” at first, but I have learned that if I focus on my strengths instead of my weaknesses and follow Ms. Serensky’s advice, everything will work out fine and I will succeed. I never realized until now, when reading through the lyrics of Cyrus’s song, that the arduous, seemingly impossible moments and assignments are the ones I remember most fondly. I certainly struggled through my first out-of-class AP English essay about Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, but I realize now that those struggles in learning how to write an essay and the mental breakdowns I had to overcome, taught me not only how to write a good essay but also how to manage stress and deal with my own problems.  I know that as a result of Ms. Serensky’s encouragement, motivation and lessons that there’s a new me leaving CFHS, ready to accomplish my goals and ambitions not matter how seemingly difficult the climb may be.

The Climb

Miley Cyrus

I can almost see it

That dream I'm dreaming but

There's a voice inside my head sayin,

You'll never reach it,

Every step I'm taking,

Every move I make feels

Lost with no direction

My faith is shaking but I

Got to keep trying

Got to keep my head held high

There's always going to be another mountain

I'm always going to want to make it move

Always going to be an uphill battle,

Sometimes you going to have to lose,

Ain't about how fast I get there,

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing,

The chances I'm taking

Sometimes they knock me down but

No I'm not breaking

The pain I'm knowing

But these are the moments that

I'm going to remember most yeah

Just got to keep going

And I,

I got to be strong

Just keep pushing on,

There's always going to be another mountain

I'm always going to want to make it move

Always going to be an uphill battle,

Sometimes you going to have to lose,

Ain't about how fast I get there,

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

There's always going to be another mountain

I'm always going to want to make it move

Always going to be an uphill battle,

Sometimes you going to have to lose,

Ain't about how fast I get there,

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

Keep on moving

Keep climbing

Keep the faith baby

It's all about

It's all about

The climb

Keep the faith

Keep your faith

Farewell to All Things AP English

Dear AP English classmates,

As senior year draws to an end, I am forced to say goodbye not only to CFHS and the teachers I have had over the past four years, but also to the select group to which I belong, the “AP English nerds.” I remember vividly the first day of AP English junior year. As I hesitantly walked into Ms. Serensky’s room, shaking in fear, I sat down in the first open desk I stumbled upon and glanced around the room. Everyone looked petrified. Soon, Ms. Serensky passed out a piece of paper with an ox in the top right-hand corner. She made a slight joke and everyone giggled nervously. Now, after two years of being yoked to notes in the margins, SOAPSTones, Data Sheets, Poetry Papers, blog entries and in-class essays, we are about to be released, set free to pursue our dreams. Although I may have complained (sometimes incessantly) about sacrificing my social life to AP English, it has truly been worth it. We entered the first year of AP English as individuals but now have found support, encouragement and challenge through our experiences together. Although I will not miss the competition for air-time, the competition for the most lengthy out of class assignments nor the group induced panic prior to completion of each assignment, I thank all of you for two amazing years of memories, growth and stimulation.

F arewell to:

A ll the laughs

R eceiving quote sheets from Ms. Serensky
E arning special stickers

W icked good cackle

E xcitement at beating the Dream Team

L ollipops and a life story
L aboring over Data Sheets

A mazingly complicated poems

P ainfully quiet lockdown drills

E verlasting memories

N ights of brainstorming for blogs

G raded in-class essays

L engthy literary analysis

I nterrupting people to gain participation points

S imultaneous disappointment

H ate for it all to end- it was the best decision I made in high school.

Thank you,

Emily 

Come Nerds, Come!

Top Ten Reasons to Take AP English:

1. Stickers. By taking AP English, you have the opportunity to receive much coveted stickers from Ms. Serensky. These special stickers are in tremendous demand and require numerous hours of hard work and dedication to receive, but the feelings of accomplishment, success and pride you feel when you receive a sticker at the top of your paper are phenomenal.

2. Competitions. Taking AP English allows you to compete with your classmates in more ways than you ever thought possible. The Multiple Choice Game, an intense battle for extra credit points, seems to be one of the more enjoyable competitions in AP English. But, there are many more. In AP English, you can compete against your classmates to see who’s data sheet is longer, who wrote more for their in-class essay, who was quoted in Bobbie’s Blog Banter, who got a better grade on the latest paper and so many more. The competitive fun never ends.

3. Self-confidence. By taking AP English, you unleash a part of yourself you have never experienced before. After a few months of Ms. Serensky’s reminder that you can “write well and intelligently.” you begin to believe in your writing skills, believe in your public speaking and interrupting abilities and also believe that you can tackle any writing prompt thrown your way.

4. The Cackle. Taking AP English allows you to experience Ms. Serensky’s marvelous cackle daily from within the very room in which it is produced. This is a highly contagious laugh and not to be missed. Her laugh is one-of-a-kind, and unless directed at you, utterly hilarious, a sure reason to take AP English.

5. Unity. From the first day of AP English 11, when all students feel intimidated and terrified, you form a bond with your classmates which remains strong through senior year. These are the people who will understand all of your problems, troubles and fears. Although, when you attempt to console each other regarding assignments, you will inevitably send each other into a panic, at least these people are there for you.

6. Stress. AP English teaches you how to deal with stress like no other class in high school. Although the first data sheet may seem like an endless amount of work when you have four other AP classes which also require work, by the last data sheet you will have learned how to budget your time, work ahead and deal with the stress. Dealing with the stress is inevitable because if you do not, you will surely lose all of your friends (non AP English friends, that is) as I can guarantee you that they do not care what sections of the long data sheet you have left to complete.

7. Pressure. Similar to stress, AP English teaches you how to deal with pressure. I have never felt more pressured to succeed that I have in AP English. From day one, Ms. Serensky sets high expectations that you will be terrified not to meet. The most pressure- filled days are the days in which Ms. Serensky announces right before an in class writing that this should be your best essay yet and that she wants to see all A’s on this essay. But, if you deal with the pressure and write as well as you can, everything will turn out fine.

8. Feeling of accomplishment. The feeling of accomplishment as you hand Mrs. Lewis your AP Test Booklet at the end of the AP English 12 exam is impossible to describe. It’s when it all makes sense, really. The hard work, the dedication you put in the last semester of AP English as you were battling that well-known illness called senioritis, has finally paid off. This feeling of joy and accomplishment is a definite reason to take AP English.

9. Lollipops and a story. As documented in one of my blogs a few weeks ago, my favorite day of AP English 12 was when we all sat in a circle (Ms. Serensky included), Ms. Serensky kindly gave us all lollipops and told us how she became the teacher she is today. Her story not only answered numerous questions I had about why she is the way she is, but also motivated me to work as hard as I possibly can and emphasized to me, that with hard work and dedication, anything is possible. Getting to hear Ms. Serensky’s story is a definite reason to embark on the two-year journey of AP English.

10. Writing skills. Ms. Serensky’s method of teaching is amazing. Within a few weeks, you will be writing noticeably better than your friends in Honors English. Additionally, Ms. Serensky teaches you how to write faster, more clearly and more intelligently. In AP English you will gain the writing skills which, hopefully, will make college much easier. 

Best of all, you get to embrace your inner nerd-self!

The Creepers at the Rec

May 5, 2011: As students settle into their assigned seats for the AP English Literature and Composition Exam, Ashima, Lane and Iago unload from a white panel van and peer into the frosted windows of the Rec Center.

Ashima: '"What’s taking so long?"' (Lahiri 290)

Lane: "I didn’t think it polite to [watch or] listen" (Wilde 1).

Ashima: '"[She] doesn’t speak much of anything, at the moment"' (Lahiri 45).

The students begin the AP Exam and Ashima and Iago focus intently on Emily’s attitude and performance. Lane, a bit reserved, stands back a few feet.

Iago: "I see this hath a little dashed [her] sprits" (Shakespeare 3.3.13).

Lane: "I attribute it to the superior quality of the [test], sir" (Wilde 1).

Iago: "Quick, quick! [She] fear[s] nothing" (Shakespeare 5.1.3).

Lane: "I believe it is a very pleasant state, sir" (Wilde 1).

Iago: "She is of/so free, so kind, so apt, so blessed a disposition she/holds it… in her goodness… to do more than/she is requested" (Shakespeare 2.3.319-322).

Ashima: '"This is no time for books"' (Lahiri 290).

Iago: "What you know, you know" (Shakespeare 5.2.299).

Lane: "Yes, sir" (Wilde 1)

Iago: "O, that’s well said" (Shakespeare 5.1.98).

Lane: "Thank you, sir" (Wilde 2).

Iago: "For sure [she] fills it up with great ability" (Shakespeare 3.3.247).

Ashima: "'Next year at this time [she’ll] be so far away"' (Lahiri 287).

Iago: "Ay, there’s the point" (Shakespeare 3.3.228).

Ashima [as the test concludes]: '"Now [she] will be on [her] own"' (Lahiri 147).