Assumptions

I tend to think that I'm usually pretty good at figuring out how people usually are, and how I'm going to like them based on my first impression of them. I know this isn't looked upon as the best way to deal with people, but it's not like the idea I have of a person is completely set in stone in my mind. I've had a lot of situations when I assume that someone doesn't like me, and it turns out that I was wrong and they actually don't hate my guts. But, I'm usually pretty good at determining how I'll like a class or how people feel about me 80% of the time. It is interesting, over time, to see how I feel after knowing someone for a while compared to how I thought they were in the beginning. So, here goes my first impression of my classes this year: 1st Hour: AP Literature with Mrs. Figueroa Honestly, this is the class that I'm both the most excited about and terrified of. Writing and language skills have always been, like, my thing. I'm complete crap at math, I'm horrible at science, and I'm only halfway decent at any kind of art or drawing. I would say I'm pretty good at singing, but I'm not completely incredible in music, not jaw-droppingly good, and I don't play any instruments. But, in writing and language, I'm always the best. Okay, I'm probably not the best, but language skills have always come completely effortlessly to me. Last year in my AP Language class, I literally floated through it. My teacher liked me because I gave my opinion, whether I was "right" or not. I immediately did really well in that class while the people who were more mathematically inclined or looked at the world through black-and-white eyes struggled. My teacher and I thought about everything in a very similar way, so when I wrote papers that maybe had holes in the logical process or I missed some proof from the prompt or resources, he knew what I was talking about immediately, and filled in the holes for me. We basically operated on the length all the time. However, in AP Lit, I can already tell things are operating on a very different level. Over the summer, I had to write a non-graded for the class (all AP classes in Wisconsin have summer homework, not just Literature) and I was feeling really good about mine. I wrote on Shakespeare, which I love to give my opinion on, and the prompt was one that I liked. I felt like I did a pretty good job. But when I got feedback on it, it was kind of... meh. There were a lot of grammar/directional criticisms on it, and I'm honestly not used to that. That's why I'm terrified of the class. It isn't going to be super easy for me. I'm going to have to work really hard, and I"m not sure my teacher is automatically going to understand me like Mr. Deshotels of AP Lang did. But that's also the exciting part- I really want to improve my writing, and instead of always being correct and never getting major criticism, I'll become a better writer, and that's something I'm really looking forward to. 2nd Hour: AP United States History with Mr. Pechanach APUSH is a totally different story from Lit. I feel totally comfortable in the class. My sophomore year, I took AP European History, and the teacher, Mr. Dorgan, ran his class very similarly to how APUSH is run. I'm much more confident in this class, even though United States History isn't my favorite... I do like European History a lot more. I know, I'm a traitor to my country. For bonus points, Mr. Pechanach reminds me of John Green, who is definitely a very cool dude. :) 3rd Hour: A Cappella and Choir with Spiess I'm really excited for choir. I love singing and I know that we'll be doing really AWESOME music this year. However, right now both classes kind of stink. Because we have a HUGE choir this year (140 KIDS!!!), we'll be dividing into an upper and lower choir, meaning that upper choir is going to be able to hit the ground running instead of waiting for the freshmen and newbies to catch up. But until we have placements, it means 140 of us are crammed into one room. I'm not usually claustrophobic, but being in that room almost drives me to it. And then, in a cappella, we suddenly have all these new people who have never been in any choir class before. A cappella is an upper level class, involving intense, really difficult music. If these people don't know how to count rhythms or read basic music, they should NOT be in the class, no matter how much natural talent their mom says they have. A cappella has traditionally been a junior-and-senior-only class, It was only last year that sophomores started joining the group, and that was only girls who had been taking voice lessons for multiple years and knew what they were doing. This year TONS of people who have never even been in high school choir joined, and it really freaks me out. I just they'll be smart and mature to realize that they aren't ready for how challenging it's going to be and give the group a chance to be amazing. Because the stuff we're doing this year is going to be INCREDIBLE... we're going to Orlando and the music she has lined up is amazing. I'm really anxious to start singing because I haven't all summer (unfortunately, it is frowned upon to break into random song in the middle of your shift), and if I can't sing, I'm not a happy girl. 4th Hour: Environmental Science with Ms. Waineo Last year, my classes were very well situated for Kira's "awake-ness" levels. I am NOT a morning person, so as the day goes on, I wake up more. My first class last year was Spanish II and it ended with AP Lang, so it was nice because I was able to sleep through my first hour, and then by the end of the day I was extremely awake and engaged for AP Lang. This year, I have my toughest class first hour, and I'm dead, but then for science I'm really energetic, but OH MY GOSH the people in the class are So. Incredibly. Dumb. There's a scene in Sherlock where he tells someone, "Shut your mouth, Anderson. you lower the IQ of the room just by stepping into it." I know it sounds mean, but that is literally how I fell about this class. I walked into the room yesterday, and I could feel the stupid fermenting in the air. I'm sorry, I don't have any sympathy or patience for people who choose to be lazy and dumb. I know I've already ranted about this topic, but I feel really strongly about it. These last couple of days have been kind of meh. Yesterday my contacts felt like they were going to pop out of my eyeballs and then I squirted applesauce in my lap, like the graceful lady I am. Today, I made a complete idiot out of myself in front of a cappella when I was supposed to teach everyone a little warm-up song. I didn't know that Spiess wanted me to do it until halfway through class, though, so I just stood up there like.. "Heeey... I have no idea what to heck to do right now... so how was your summer?" Needless to say, I'm not in the best mood right now.