Mirror, Mirror

hi...It has been weeks since we were assigned a blogpost because we have been hard core preparing for the AP Exam... now that that is done we are back online for one more blogpost.
I am going to start this post by saying thank you. Thank you Mr. Thomas for being everything you were, for everything you did and everything you have taught me. Looking back, I feel that I have changed more in the last 9 months, than in the 16 years before my junior year. I am completely aware that Mr.Thomas/ APLAC didn't change me, but they were definitely big factors in the progress I made. (I don't even know how to write this, so bare with me and my disorganized structure)

The course: This class has been such a blessing to have. Through it I have learned to be organized, prepared, patient and (I don't know what word to use) efficient in thinking, okay I guess I could use smarter. I think that This is the first class I have ever taken that I have actually been excited to improve in. Organization wise I love the fact that I can time myself and I know what schedule works for me, I have never had that before. It is not that I was messy or that I could never find anything before, but the fact that now I do not have to get stressed out about doing my work in a timely manner is incredible. I work efficiently and actually get excited to do an assignment is something new to me. I love it. Patience... I really don't know how this came about. I have been waiting for it for years and all of a sudden I have it, how does that work? I can't write anything else about it because I really do not know how I became patient... maybe it was through Mr.Thos's refusal to change our seating arrangements many times through the year, jajaja. It feels weird to say that I have become smarter, but I don't know why it feels weird. That is the whole reason to enroll in an advanced course and actually take it seriously. I have learned so much this year and they are things that I can take away, things I can use in other aspects of my life. I also think that it is amazing that in a skill-based class I learned so much content, for example:

• How many words the English language has and why. (600,000)
• America's 1950's culture
• America's 1920's culture
• Why scary stories are scary
• Where to read news from
• LOGICAL FALLACIES
• Why Vietnam happened and what it was
• And a multitude of authors
• The level of amazing that is Truman Capote... (In Cold Blood was SOO GOOD!!!)

The test: I was so ready for those essays, Mr.Thomas did a WONDERFUL job at teaching us the synthesis essay. Amazing, thank you, perfect, yay. However, the argumentative was the hardest to write, it was just the prompt and the structure along with the examples I could use just... It was not as easy as the practices we had in class. But then, in class the hardest to write was the synthesis due to time crunch and understanding the passages.

The teacher: From Mr.Thomas I have learned so much more than I could have asked for. (Again, THANK YOU!) I am 100% sure that no one else can teach about the world and the possibilities it holds for students (you/me) in an English class emphasizing in American History and values, while still getting us prepared to take an AP Exam in May, which, by the way, I felt completely ready to take. He taught me to be confident in myself and what I know, in a way he told me it was okay to grow up. Today (Monday May 19,2014) we had a Socratic seminar about The Great Gatsby and how Nick Carraway changed from being "tolerant" to a more compassionate judge. In those words, I honestly see myself. At the beginning of this year I had no formal opinion of my own for almost anything. Why? Because I was scared of having "the wrong opinion" or offending somebody. Now? I know I can have my own opinion and IT'S OKAY! I love that! I have reached the point where I know that being tolerant is different that understanding differences and I chose the latter.

I love having had this experience and I hope i never forget any second of it! But at least I know that if I do, I will still carry everything this year has taught and I could not be any more grateful than I already am.

Thank you,

Vicky