Ode to Calculus

She was the best math teacher I ever had. I looked forward to going to her class everyday at 1:30, even though it was the hardest class I had ever taken. When I decided to take AP Calculus BC in the winter of my junior year, all of my friends thought I was crazy. However, I didn't care because I love math and all of its challenges.

Every spring my high school holds AP days where students that are taking AP courses the following fall meet in the cafeteria to get acquainted with what the class is going to be about. They meet the teacher and get any summer work that is required for the class. I remember sitting at one of the tables with a few of my friends who were also going to take calculus in the fall. Mrs. Wentzel walked into the cafeteria with a huge stack of papers, which included information sheets and summer work packets (yes I said PACKETS), that were to be handed out to the students. The first words out of her mouth were something along the lines of: "Welcome to your worst nightmare, if you are thinking of slacking off, please leave now. If any of you had Garman, you really need to work up your work stamina because we will not be 'easing into the weekend' at all."

Side note: I had Mr. Garman for both Geometry A and Pre-Calculus. He is the type of teacher who doesn't want to lecture in front of the class for an entire 80 minute block. So he would start class by saying, "Hey everyone. Today we're going to learn about the fun subject of -insert subject here-. I'll be done by 9:30 (and class started at 9:15 both times I had him)." On Wednesdays he'd begin "easing into the weekend." This philosophy basically meant he was already tired from the week, so he would only be teaching for a maximum of ten minutes. I loved his teaching method because the class was basically independant study.

Everyone looked at each other, and looked at her with hesitation. She scared the heck out of me! But I decided to stay because I'm not a slacker.

The first few months were okay, I grasped the concepts pretty quickly. However, around Christmas vacation she informed the class that we would be receiving a take home test that would be due when we returned from break. She handed it out on the day before break, and I was shocked. It was a packet with probably around fifteen pages of integrals. She told us that we probably would not be able to do all of them, but try anyway. That made me nervous, but I did them anyway.

My next calculus epiphany occurred at the beginning of the second semester. While everyone else was starting all new classes, I was only half way done with my math class. I kept thinking to myself "What possessed me to take this class all year?" Mrs. Wentzel again filled our heads with scary thoughts. She told us that the second half of the year was going to be twice as hard as the first half. I quickly got that thought out of my head, and powered through the rest of the year. It definately wasn't as bad as she said it was going to be.

The AP test came in the beginning of May. I was so excited when that time came because it meant that we wouldn't be learning any new material for the rest of the year. However, with the test came a rigorous review schedule that Mrs. Wentzel created herself. It consisted of an assignment due one day and a quiz the day after, and on and on until the day before the test. I hated that schedule with a passion while I was on it. However, when I found out that I got a five on the AP test, I was greatful for that annoying schedule.

For the remainder of the school year math class consisted of doing experiments involving calculus, which was much better than starting new material.

Recently on a visit to my high school I found out from one of my friends taking AP Calculus this year that Mrs. Wentzel is no longer teaching there. She apparently took a job in Pittsburgh. But, I guess she's happy because Pittsburgh is her favorite city.

"Carpe Diem!"

A Friendly Visit

For the past two days, my school has had Fall Break. So instead of staying at home and doing nothing, I decided to pay a visit to my high school. I went in around 9:15 a.m. and one of my teachers had to pick me up because of the whole security thing. So, we got down to the classroom, and he asked me to give a little three-minute speech on "What JROTC did for me when I was in high school." It wasn't too bad. I then went into his office to sit for a while. It brought back memories of me and my friends hanging out for hours at a time doing absolutely nothing productive (ahh... good times). Then my friend Nick came in, so he and I chatted for a while. Apparently he is the battalion commander this year, which is awesome!

About half and hour later a few more of my friends came down to the "dungeon," which is where the JROTC room is located. They caught me up on everything that I had missed this year, since I do not go there anymore. While I was still in high school I really hated all of the high school "drama," but now that I am not exposed to it on a regular basis, I find that I miss it. By the time we had finished gossiping it was probably around 11:00 a.m.

The rest of the day was filled with catching up on old times. I found out that my friend Colin got accepted into the US Military Academy at West Point. That is so awesome because the JROTC program went to visit last May, and he loved it there, and next fall he'll be going there. I was having such a good time that I apparently forgot to eat lunch.

In the afternoon, I decided to stay after school to watch the drill team and colorguard practice because I was a part of both teams when I was still in the program. That was fun because I got to see all of my old friends again, and we gossipped some more.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted. However, it was well worth it. I hope to visit sometime soon again.

Nation's Capital

Yesterday was one of the best days ever. My school sponsored a trip to Washington, D.C. as part of the curriculum for my history class.

I had to wake up at 4:30 a.m. (but it was worth it), and the bus left at 6:30 a.m. We drove to Maryland for breakfast, and I ended up standing in line for half and hour just to get something to eat. Then we were off again. We arrived in D.C. at around 10:30, and it was pouring down rain. My friend, Tiffany, and I decided to explore the Air and Space museum first because it was the closest building to where the bus had dropped us off. It was so awesome! :) The only bad part was baggage checkpoint because we had to stand in line just to get into the museum. We probably spent an hour and a half in Air and Space browsing the various exhibits on display. One of the best ones was the Orville and Wilbur Wright exhibit. There was a whole room filled with different designs they used to build their first airplane.

After the Air and Space museum, we decided to go to the Smithsonian Castle. Neither of us had ever been to D.C. before so we first had to find a map. After acquiring the map, I looked for the castle, we gathered up our belongings, and were off to the castle. It was still pouring outside, so I decided to use my umbrella. Little did I know that wind plus a flimsy umbrella equals an inside out umbrella, so I got soaked several times. Anyway, we walked down the sidewalk towards what we thought was the castle. However, we were going in the opposite direction, and ended up at the Native American museum. So, we checked it out for about ten minutes.

After the Native American museum, with some renewed confidence, we strolled over towards the Smithsonian castle. However, after checking her watch, Tiff alerted me that we only had and hour and a half to go to the musuems and eat lunch and be back on the bus. After deliberating, we made the executive decision to skip the castle and go to the Freer Art Gallery because I had to do an extra credit assignment for my history class. We spent about thirty minutes in the museum. The exhibits included: Hindu and Buddhist artifacts, Asian pottery, Japanese masks, and many other interesting items.

Since we only had about an hour until the buses left, my friend and I decided to go back to Air and Space to get some lunch. Upon arriving at the food court, we were awestruck. The size of the court was impressive. There were people everywhere! The food choices included, but were not limited to: McDonald's, Boston Market, and a pizza restaurant. We chose the shortest of the ten lines to stand in, ordered our food (which was more expensive than a nice main dish at Applebee's), found a place to sit, and ate our lunch. We then made our way back to the bus pick-up area, and yes it was still raining.

The next stop on our exciting Washington D.C. excursion was the National Cathedral. The people who were interested in seeing the cathedral boarded the buses and took what was supposed to be a ten minute ride (but was actually a fourty-five minute ride) to the church. Upon arrival I was shocked at how enormous the building was. We were told that the building was built in a gothic style. We received an exclusive tour of the cathedral which was given by one of the ladies who works there. She knew just about everything about the church. I had a really good time going from room to room admiring the beautiful details. The lady also told us that Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller are buried in the cathedral. We probably spent two hours in the National Cathedral.

After the cathedral, the buses went back to the Air and Space museum to pick up the remaining people who did not go to the cathedral. We then made our way to Georgetown to spend the evening. We spent three hours in Georgetown. My friends and I walked around Georgetown until we found a mall (The Shoppes at Georgetown), where we ate dinner at the food court. Then we walked around the mall to kill some time. We soon found ourselves bored, so we left the mall. It was pretty cold outside by now, so Tiff and I decided to look for a Starbucks to get a coffee, which was not hard because there was a Starbucks on almost every corner. We then made our way back to the buses, and this ended our long, exciting day in Washington D.C. and the surrounding area. I can't wait to visit again!




"Carpe Diem!"