In order to take AP Government and Politics as a sophomore at my high school, I had to get above a 95% in freshman history, Cultures and Civilizations, and at least a 93% in our difficult English curriculum. I ended the first semester with a 99% in Cultures and Civilizations and 92.5% in English—a mere half percent too low. Upon receiving my course information as an incoming freshman, I planned out all of my classes, and AP Gov fit flawlessly into the path that I wanted and thought that I had to take. I talked to my English teacher, who agreed to recommend me into the class like my counselor told me to ask her to do, but my history teacher and the social studies department were adamant: I could not take AP Gov as a sophomore with a B+ in
first semester freshman English. After a week of talking to my counselor and emailing teachers, I realized that my efforts were fruitless and turned my focus to my coursework again. As a result, I had to settle in taking the regular sophomore history class, US History. Social studies, one of my favorite classes, was the only class that I did not move up to the available honors track. At first, I was disappointed. I thought that I knew the path that I had to take—this hiccup was not on that path. Now, three years later, they have abolished the requirements for taking such advanced classes. As it turned out, taking US History was just what I needed to take. I loved the class, and connected with my teacher, Mrs. Laemmar. The winter of my sophomore year, she invited me to go with the International Relations class to Model UN. I threw myself into researching my country, Thailand, and quickly realized how interested I am in international affairs. A few weeks later, I signed up for the class my junior year. When I was researching majors during my junior year, I came across International Business and International Economics. Before taking US History and going to Model UN with Mrs. Laemmar, I never would have considered these majors. However, I realized that I want to combine my love for international affairs and my interest in business to combine a Bachelor’s in Accounting with a major or minor in International Business or International Economics. Due to my inability to get a 93% in English my freshman year, I discovered my intended major or minor, depending on which college I attend. To me, that discovery is worth the failure.
With wonderful learning opportunities, a team of sharp and intelligent classmates and teachers, and specialized equipment, the Governor’s School at Innovation Park is the ultimate dream of all determined math/science devotees. With my natural curiosity for mathematics and science and eagerness to take on challenging ideas, I can collaborate with the team at Governor’s School to develop our wide spectrum of ideas and abilities into a highly sophisticated product.
Students should communicate with their counselors to select a manageable course load based on their own aptitude and interests. Certain combinations of the most difficult AP classes may be difficult to handle for all but the most brilliant students. However by making smart informed decisions, students can challenge themselves by taking appropriate AP classes.
Sovereignty means that the state has control over it is itself (“Sovereign”). America became sovereign whenever it broke free from British control during the late 18th century. This is because their laws were no longer determined by the British empire but instead themselves. The purpose of government depends on those implementing the system. In dictatorial regimes, the purpose of government is vastly different than that of a republic. In the United States, according to the Constitution, the purpose of government is defined to be “Establish Justice, Insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty” (U.S. Const. preamble). All the powers outlined in the Constitution are
I walked out of sophomore AP world history and human geography not only with greater historical awareness, but also the ability to utilize that awareness to engage with other disciplines. In pushing beyond mere identification and recall, APWH challenged me to shift away from passively accepting information at face-value, to understand how context and rhetoric framed knowledge. In constantly deconstructing the nature of historical and empirical evidence and the lenses in which objects of scrutiny are extracted-- especially those defined by conflict and transformations--, I learned to be conscientious of how authors’ material conditions and interests shaped the presentation of given narratives. In-class emphasis of making historical connections while reading became ingrained into my
John Steinbeck and Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK Jr.) have both gone down in American literature as some of the most influential authors, but why? Steinbeck was an influential author throughout the 20th century with pieces in many genres. On the flip side is Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights leader in the fight against racial discrimination. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the style of these two authors, it is necessary to compare them on the bases of repetition, tone, and purpose.
To truly understand my “mental story” in its entirety, it is important to look back upon my mentality when I chose to take AP Government and also what I previously knew before my first day of class. Politics was never my subject of choice. When I toured Georgetown and almost chose to pursue it, I convinced myself that the political scene and Washington D.C was not all that interesting to me. However, as the political scene began to somehow consistently appear on nearly every television channel, I decided that government and politics were areas that I might find interest in. As a naïve sophomore, I decided I would dedicate my senior humanities to studying government because I lacked a great amount of knowledge. The information I did know was limited, however. I knew Political figures are in a constant pursuit of power, and that democracy is the rule by the people. On the other
The question asked “ Based on your understanding of the text and class lectures, do you know enough about American Parties and elections to understand contemporary American politics?” (Take Home Test). To answer this question I would say yes I have learned enough in this class to say that I do understand enough about contemporary American politics in general. I do however believe that American politics is a living thing and that change can happen at any time and no one can learn or know enough about contemporary American politics. I think the most useful things that we learned in class to help with a general understanding is how the system works and the over abundance of problems that the system does have. The basic concepts that
Initial Reflective Essay When I first thought of what I wanted to do with my life after college, the first thing I thought of was helping people. The next step in deciding what I wanted to do with my life was to examine how I could accomplish this goal. I started pondering and I was thinking about how much I love to take care of my body. Health care and personal hygiene has always been an important factor in my life. So I decided to major in Health Sciences.
The liberal arts are becoming increasingly rare in schools and universities. However, Saint Catherine University makes it a priority to teach its students the core benefits to the liberal arts college. It requires students to take the course “The Reflective Woman” along with “Global Search for Justice” as an introduction and conclusion to a liberal arts education. Throughout this semester I became more knowledgeable on what the liberal arts truly are, honed my reflective judgment, developed my writing skills, and I now have a deeper and defined sense of self.
The first four weeks of CR510 have prompted this student to reflect on her years of teaching in the public school setting. Having experienced many similar complexities to the ones in the text, this student is sympathetic to the challenges facing those in the education system and is eager to find opportunities to offer a better solution for all involved. CR510 has strengthened this student's belief that a third party neutral can provide valuable benefits to educational systems at all levels.
What might be meant by the concept of political power and what might be meant by the concept of political authority? Can states possess both power and authority?
The class that I like the least my freshman year is government, not only did I find out after half of the semester that I did not need the class I found out that I could not drop the class because I had to have 12 credits for my financial aid to cover my classes. I was so mad at my advisor for putting me in a class that I did not need and putting me in a situation that I could not do anything about. So I finished the class and ended with a low grade because I did not enjoy the class. I did not like the teacher he made a lot of squiggly lines and boxes and circles and I need words not just random drawings on a dry erase board and that was not even the worst part I told him that I couldn’t understand his way of teaching and he told me to do the best I can so I think it’s his fault that I didn’t do well. I also got the book to the class to find out that he don’t teach out of the book so I paid for it for no reason, he did not teach anything out of the book which is where I turned to since I could not understand him. Then I could not understand a word he said his accent was so bad that ...
Second hand smoke is a different combination of air and the smoke that comes from the cigarette and the smoke breathed out by a smoker. This happens when a non-smoker is around someone smoking, therefore, breathing in secondhand smoke. According to the various research which were done by W H O, second hand smoke have been proofed to contain more than 7000 harmful chemical and 250 of these chemicals are known to be harmful to one’s health.
The American political system is representative democracy. There are three branches in the federal government under the Constitution. The legislative power is assigned in the Congress and made up of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The most powerful in Congress is made laws and controlled finances of the U.S. The President is head of state, chief executive, enforces federal laws, control foreign policy. He serves as the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, and he has power make treaties with Senate approval. Back to nineteenth century, the President’s power was weak. The Presidency office had a little bit international ties, and they didn’t have any standing in army. Most of the power in the hands of Congress. Without the power in hands, Washington and Thomas Jefferson served with some unwillingness. Woodrow Wilson insinuated that the U.S. government is a “congressional government”. However, nowadays the President’s power is really strong. For example, the President has right to launch a nuclear attack. The Presidency office has the most power, especially when it under George Bush. Some scholars and commentators called that “imperial presidency” in the U.S. political system nowadays. Both
Writing a reflection and a summary of dozens of experiences is very challenging and demanding. I cannot count how many ups I had, yet I cannot deny the fact that I had some downs where I could transform them to ups. The year was full of challenges, excitement, fear and lessons. Each Wednesday I had mixed emotions. Every time I came to school I had the same fear and heartbreaks. In my reflection I am willing to compare between Adan at the beginning of the year and new Adan I became.