I only have one more AP left: AP World History next Friday. Even though there’s no school that day, I still have to go. The assistant principal is purposely opening the doors for me to take the test; I feel so special.

Fortunately, the remaining days of school will be great! I’m in my school’s self program, where instead of going to class, fourth quarter seniors take internships. We have to keep a journal and make a presentation at the end of the school year. However, because I neglected to find an internship and hand in my forms on time, I’m in this new program under self, which is basically a tutoring program. I will be tutoring four ninth-graders every day in biology so that they can pass their Regents exam. This way, seniors can give back to the school and get out of classes. So, it’s a win-win on both sides. (Seniors won’t be learning even if they are in class, since there’s no motivation left. We all know the colleges we’ll be attending, APs have ended, and the school ranking has already been decided.)

I still have to go Orchestra class, however, since the last concert isn’t until a little more than a week away. After that, I will be dropping Orchestra, too!

So, my schedule right now includes me sleeping in and getting out of school early. It’s pretty neat.

After my last AP, though, I’m looking to find an internship in a website designing and development company. That way, I can at least get my feet wet in this field and see how it’s like. In any case, getting such an internship added onto my resume would help my freelancing career.

Sometimes, it’s hard to focus–I know. I’ve been there. I hated it when I had my math packet out in front of me, a mechanical pencil resting at the side, and my eyes reading the questions but not taking them in. Fortunately, I found that music sometimes calmed me down enough to study. I don’t mean the type of music that you can sing along to; singing to songs doesn’t really help with focusing. But music from different languages, or just music in your own language but with such dragged out words that it’s impossible to comprehend, makes great studying music. When I kept listening to these songs, my mind naturally equated calming music with studying time. Thus, whenever I heard a song I had listened to while studying, I would unconsciously start preparing myself to study.

I’ll share a few of the songs I listen to while studying. Perhaps they might also help calm you down enough to finish those last-minute math or physics assignments (I do not recommend listening to music while actually reading material, such as books or science journals):

Enya - River

A happy and fun to listen to type song. There are no lyrics, so singing shouldn’t bother with your studying! I find that any music by Enya is great studying music since the songs are very focused on the instrumentals. The voice is more like an accompaniment rather than the part that’s holding everything together.

Mikuni Shimokawa - Karenai Hana

I’m a sucker for piano music. I usually find them very calming–maybe it’s due to my piano background. But I really love this song even though I have no clue what she’s singing about–the background piano is just a plus. However, sometimes, it is hard to concentrate while there’s singing, even though I don’t understand it (but, after listening to it many times, I’ve remembered all the sounds). Thus, it’s great that there’s also a piano version that I can just listen to in those times. Also, as a bonus, there’s a French version of this song as well.

Le prince d’Egypte - Avec La Foi

I can’t find a streaming version of the song, but you can watch the section from the movie with the song here. I love the music from the Prince of Egypt, even though I remember that I didn’t like the movie that much. When I was going through a French phase, I found this song. I still find it great to listen to while studying.

Overall, I think any song that’s not too heavy with drums, electric guitars, and a bunch of other modern instruments thrown together can be calming. I hope this sample of my selection of songs can help you while studying. If not, don’t force yourself to listen to something you don’t like! But hopefully, you’ll find that you can use music to your advantage as well.

Yesterday and the day before, my teacher administered a multiple choice AP World History exam to my class. I was a little nervous about what grade I would receive (this grade isn’t actually being counted, but it’s still a marker of where I am) on the test. There were 70 multiple choice questions from the 2002 AP World exam and I had never studied for the exam before. Actually, I haven’t really learned much this year, so I was basically drawing out information I learned from middle school and in 9th grade.

I received a 56/70, which I think is fairly good. I’ll definitely be able to raise that grade when I actually get down to reading the review book. But what’s the reason behind why I only got 14 questions wrong, when I haven’t studied or learned much this entire school year? Because I used the multiple choice exam logic. It’s very easy to eliminate answers. History repeats itself, so using my knowledge of the current world (and previous AP US History material), I could usually get down to two to three possible answers. From there, it’s a matter of what sounds best. There are just those answers which don’t sound good. During those times, go with your instinct–I have found that your first answer is usually the correct answer.

Now, I’m just a bit worried about the writing section in the exam. Speed-memorizing is great when I see possible answers; I can pick out the right one. But when it comes to writing, I actually have to know the material quite well and be able to draw from my brain what happened in what time and the cascade effect from there. I only hope that my brain is up to that challenge.

Last month, each time I wrote an essay or short paragraphs for a French homework assignment, my teacher would return the paper to me with angry red marks strewn across the page. I always glanced at them for a second, but waved them off. Afterall, I always made the same mistakes. I never had to correct my work afterwards, so I didn’t ingrain my mistakes in my head. I kept going through French class like so–that is, until I saw the AP exam looming just about the horizon.

I decided I wanted to become better in French composition, or else I would leave that exam with a 2/9 on the composition section. And so, I looked into methods of understanding how to write in French better. I looked around at a few sites and finally found Français Facile. When I first went to that website, I exited half a minute later. After all, the layout was pretty old fashioned and so I questioned whether anyone would actually go on such a website. Don’t be deceived!

Français Facile receives many account creations per day. It is affiliated and connected with Anglais Facile, Espagnol Facile, etc. Thus, there are people from France who would like to learn English going on these websites as well. And thus, I could find people to interact with. I posted one message on their forum asking if there were French natives who would like to interact with me either orally by Skype or through e-mails. Now, I’m still receiving messages from French natives asking if I would like to become their penpal. Thus from there, I received many people’s contact information and I write e-mails in French weekly to a few people.

I have worked out this system where a French native and I write in French for two letters and then in English for two letters, and so on. Thus, each person can read and write both English and French at least once. Afterwards, my French correspondant would correct my French and I would correct his or her English. Through this method, I better my French writing and I help my French reading, as well as helping someone else.

Yesterday, I just finished writing a French essay. Today, I handed it in and received it back. There were many less red marks on the paper and my teacher believed that I would receive either a 7 or 8 for that essay on the AP. This is much better than my previous 4s through 6s.

My conlusion? Practice, practice, practice! Even though this is obvious, many people do not do so. The only way to become better at a language is to practice that language. So try whatever you can. Search for networking websites made for connecting people learning languages. There are many on the Internet; it only takes a few minutes to search.

I just received my first scholarship! I was one of four people selected to receive the NAAAP-NY scholarship. This will definitely help me out with paying off college. Plus, I broke into the Stuyvesant chain of receiving this scholarship. Most likely though, a student from Stuyvesant also received this scholarship; there are way too many Asian students at Stuyvesant….

I’m still applying for scholarships. Most of the deadlines are coming up–they’re all in May! I’m also trying to find a job over the summer. Would anyone like a website created? I have a great turnaround time!