It's over, so goodbye! :)

Well, it's been officially over since May 9th at around 4-ish pm. That was the moment when I finally finished the AP Physics B exam, the moment when my now Physics-free mind rejoiced, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"


I felt it necessary to bring much needed closure to this portion of my life. So here I am.


I am not pursuing a science career so why did I choose to stick with AP Physics B? I could have dropped it. Well, actually, no, I couldn't have dropped the class because there were many reasons as to why I signed up for the class in the first place. And these reasons are the same reasons as to why I chose to continue with the class.


Reason #1: Advanced Placement Means Awesomeness
This is actually the shallowest and most "wow-how-very-overachiever-of-you" reason. I knew, from the very beginning, that I was gonna get a B in the class all year, AP or not, so why not take the extra 0.5 GPA boost? I'm not particularly strong in science (and math, either, since we're on this subject). I credit the grades that I get in both subjects to my ability to work hard when I have to work hard and to be able to follow directions. It's like baking. There are bakers who are artists, those who try new things and oh, maybe I should add a little bit of this, and maybe a little bit of that, and what they make definitely makes a statement. Then there are bakers who are direction-followers, those who faithfully stick to the recipe handed to them by the baker-artists. In math and science, I'm definitely a direction-follower. The teacher tells me this and that, and I don't question any of it. I do everything the same exact way that they tell me to do it (which is a bad thing sometimes, because not all problems that we are asked to solve are exactly like the ones in the textbook . . .). All year, the B reflected both my work and innate talent (my lack of it, actually) and I held onto it for dear life for the whole year. All for the extra boost.


Reason #2: My Sister Took the Class
Classic younger-sibling-reason. As a young naive freshman with an older sister who has literally paved the way for me since I started school, I can't help it when my science-minded parents tell me, "Take biology as a ninth grader so you can take an AP science course as a senior. Your sister's doing it." When you're handed the chance to prove that you are just as good as (maybe even better than) your older sibling, you take it. That way, you don't have to look for those chances yourself. But what I've learned over the years is to not get (too) upset when I don't live up to Shayne's accomplishments. When I was little, the goal was to be better than Shayne. As I got older, it became just to do equally as well. But now, the goal is to just try my best in everything I do (I really think that, by the way, I'm not just being self-righteous over here). Yes, I get a bit peeved when I don't do as well after Shayne, but I don't really mind because I have things of my own that Shayne hasn't even tried, so there. 


Reason #3: My Parents Told Me to Take It

Ignore the unsightly water marks. 

We're a family of nerds. My parents are nerds. That's where I get all my nerdyness from, actually, but we three kids are a bit different. While both of them are math and science nerds, I'm more of a word nerd. Shayne is an overall school nerd, I think. Josh is more sci-fi nerdy than any of us. And all three of us are pretty bookish ("bookish" is a great word). My mom is a Physics major, she used to be a Physics professor in the Philippines and she now teaches high school Physics. My dad has always been an electrical engineer, which involves a lot of Physics, too. One time, for my parents' birthdays (They have the SAME birthday! How cute is that?!?!), we ate at Romano's and we used the crayons that they give to the little kids to draw and write science/math equations on the table. My mom was writing out all the Greek letters used as variables in Physics. 


They know I'm far from the science stars they were when they were both my age. But they knew that I wasn't going to fail miserably either. So I could at least make them proud by not failing one of their favorite subjects in the world, right?


Reason #4: It Wouldn't Have Been the Same If I Hadn't Taken It

School is about challenging yourself and doing things you don't usually like doing because you realize later that although some things may not be super useful to you in real life, you actually gain so much that will help you survive it. The sleepless nights will come in handy when I'm up studying late for exams in college, the lab work with other people will come in handy when I have terrible co-workers (nervous and uncomfortable chuckle goes here), the patience, the blood, the sweat and the tears that have gone into this little bubble of physics in my life--they are NOT worthless. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Pain is weakness leaving the body, right? Physics was painful, and it certainly did not kill me. Therefore, I am stronger because I took the class.

BEFORE

AFTER (Get it? Like a STRONG magnetic field?)

In addition, our class bonded so much over homework cramming sessions during our lunch periods, frees, and after schools this whole year. We literally lived in the physics room. We may not have been doing physics stuff the whole time we were in there (hahahaha, all those physics toys), but just being in the general vicinity of the place and of each other made us feel like we were all fighting together, side by side. I have very fond memories in Mr. Heyler's room, yes I do. Junior year wouldn't have been the same without our physics bunch.

This has been a great year. Special and well-deserved thank you to Mr. Heyler for his bottomless patience with our antics, questions and for his Physics jokes!

Goodbye Physics blog, farewell to physics, adieu to all of you who have actually read this blog!

--Jen :)