1. Honestly, I feel as though the only thing that is going to affect my participation or experience in this class is my own self. Yes, I have an EXTREMELY busy schedule with a lot going on and a lot of AP classes to tend to-not to mention the fundraising I need to do before summer to go on some world travel trips I really want to go on. But I've had a busy schedule and a lot going on since I was in elementary school-I'm one of those people that likes to try most things at least once, and it's easier for me to maintain a pleasant life when it's jam-packed with busy schedules and things rather than one where I remain stagnant. It's always been this way for me and has never affected me negatively, and I don't see this year being any different. The only thing holding me back would be my lack of desire to share things with others. When it comes to sharing things (especially writing) I'm more of a listener than anything else. It's not because I don't have plenty of my own thoughts and ideas because believe me, I do. It's just that I don't feel there's a strong motivation in me to share them, because people are going to believe what they want to believe and I honestly just don't really care what they think about what I have to say, because those are my words and no matter what others tell me, I believe in them. No one else's opinion really matters too much to me. That said, I do like to think I'm a very open-minded person. I like to listen and learn and hear what other people have to say; I like to hear and take into account their thoughts and ideas, which could ultimately contribute to the development of my thoughts and ideas. It's going to be a big step for me to put myself and my writing out there this year, but I suppose I had to get over it sometime.
2. I can think of a lot of learning experiences I've been through since, after all, we are all constantly learning whether we recognize it or not. But I suppose one of the most specific cases was in honors English sophomore year with Mrs. Byrne. I'd have to say that that class is by far the best class I have ever taken at this point. Maybe it's because I'm partial to English, or maybe it's because I finally had an amazing teacher who cared about my education and truly wanted to see me succeed and not only that, but bent over backwards to help me succeed. But that's beside the point. It was a little ways through the year and we were just beginning to get into existentialism. I wasn't thrilled at first, because it seemed that in learning that criteria, my religious beliefs might be contradicted and disregarded altogether, forcing something I didn't want to accept into my mind. But rather than that, learning about existentialism simply furthered my knowledge of how other people saw things, and made me question some things for myself. Nothing was shoved down my throat, but rather the ideas were put out there for students to take in and absorb. My beliefs remained how they were before the introduction of existentialism- unaltered and basically the same as before. But the difference was that I gained a new knowledge of how others saw the world, and how they believed things to be the way they were. After the unit, I even read a couple of other existentialist books for the pure purpose of mind stimulation. I learned that just because I didn't necessarily disagree with something, it didn't mean I couldn't learn it and accept it as an idea that others did agree with. This furthered my ability to keep an open mind and open ears when it comes to unfamiliar ideas.
3. In this class I am honestly just most excited to develop and excel as a writer. Because all assignments are basically out there for the world to see, I can't really hide behind my hundreds of Microsoft Word entries that lay stored in my laptop. This year is my time to finally throw my pride aside and publish my words out there so if people choose, they can see them. I am almost equally as excited to read up on intellectual novels and reads, for the purpose of having those words and ideas under my belt. I'm just really excited for the whole aspect of learning in general- from poetry to novels to things totally unrelated to English altogether. I believe this class with not only prepare me for a career as a writer, but for life in general. In just a matter of days I have been more academically stimulated by one class than I have been in a whole year in other classes. I'm excited to see what else is in store as I embark on the journey that is AP Literature and Composition.
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