The Importance of an AP

A few days ago, I received my AP score. Although my school year officially ended about a month ago (“official” being an absolutely powerless term because what day actually determines my last day when most finals had been taken a month back and just one straggler class was left to be finished?), this insignificant number made me realize something significant.  I have survived my first year of non-traditional schooling. And done pretty damn well if I may say so myself.

Now, I am reflecting on the circumstances of my math class. Of the classes I took this year, this one was the odd one. I was not affiliated with any school or program. It was just my tutor and I. Without a teacher-designed syllabus, without a classroom, and most of the time, without socially acceptable daytime clothing. It was the most traditional of my homeschooling methods yet I mixed it with the traditional monopoly of the schooling system–Collegeboard. I learned everything I needed for the AP test and more in a coffee shop or at the dining table while two yappy dogs begged for attention.  And by some miracle, it worked. I managed to finish two years of math and complete the AP Calc BC test with a great result. (The alternate test, actually, due to a marijuana incident to be recounted later.)

Despite my dislike of standardized tests, the SAT, SAT II, and AP scores have verified that I have chosen a path that not only taught the body of knowledge required for these tests, but allowed me to succeed beyond satisfactory.

But, I will still swear to my dying day when I suffocate in a coffin:

Standardized tests are to measuring intellect as hula hoops are to measuring time.