Background: as one of our final grades in AP Biology, we had to write a letter of encouragement to the AP Bio students of next year. I penned this in APCS2 while my classmates were busy playing FPS games. Hopefully it inspires you in some way as well!
To the next great generation of AP Biology students;
Perhaps you may have heard of me, perhaps you haven’t. If you have, that’s lovely; I hope you excel in AP Biology more than I did. If you haven’t, my name is Vivian Lee and I was a senior at VRHS for the 2007-08 school year. I did some pretty challenging things throughout the course of my high school career, and I can assure you that taking AP Biology was one of those items that I never regretted.
I slacked off a lot during my first few years here; junior year was when I had pretty much given up on school and felt like life was living hell. However, when senior year rolled around I pretty much put my foot down and told myself I was going to do great things, even if they seemed impossible. So with a determined spirit I enrolled myself into 8 AP classes, three of them being advanced sciences (Physics C, CompSci 2, Biology). It’s nice, in my opinion, to be able to spread out my advanced classes throughout all the subject areas – I also took French 5 Literature (which is probably obsolete by now – the class of ’09 will be the last class offered that option), Government, Economics, and Calculus. Despite all of this, though, I still managed to have time to participate widely in science fair, run an international singing organization on the side (200+ members strong, with me as the founder and leader), participate in my dance troupe, do freelance web development and design, and much more.
There has always been the stereotype that AP students don’t “have a life”. However, I think that outlook is quite erroneous, and many of the VRHS alumni are living proof of that. AP classes themselves are also terribly fun when you’re able to have REAL discussions with people who are on the same wavelength as you, and who are passionate about the same subjects as you are. Congrats for choosing AP Biology – here you’ll be able to spend half a week with strangers down at the coast, suffering through overreacting air conditioners, cramped bedrooms, trudging through the marshes, riding on a boat chasing dolphins, and more than anything, form strong bonds with your classmates that you’ll eventually have to rely on later in the course. And let me tell you, AP Biology is definitely a class that promotes teamwork and camaraderie, because if you dare to trek through AP Bio alone, you are one brave soul. If you are able to foster networks with your classmates, by all means do it. Who else will you sit with in coffee shops with to study for the latest 60-question test? Who else will you complete those treacherous study guides with? Who else will quiz you on all the functions of the hormones of the human body (and be there to comfort you when you forget all of them once you flip over your test)?
Since I can’t scare you off too badly as you’re just beginning your journey into the land of the unknown and E.coli, I suppose I’m obliged to give you some tips =) Attached, should you want it, is an abridged and censored copy of a blog post that I wrote May of 2008 as advice not only to Biology students but any student of any AP class. It touches on time management and attitude upkeep, so read if you wish.
It’s definitely a hard journey, this walk into AP Biology land. The fact that you’ve even set foot into the advanced science department already means you’re undergoing that rite of passage to becoming a true member of the VRHS science cult – I mean, group. (This is coming from someone who has basically lived in the science hallway all four years of her HS life). I’m not really sure what to say from here except good luck! It will be hard, it will be grueling, and it will not be pretty at times (especially your grades). But despite all those nasty aspects to AP Bio, it also creates a deeper appreciation for the world around us, for team effort, and more than anything, it allows you to grow and develop by forcing independence; by dropping you off an airplane with no parachute… and letting you learn how to fly.
Best of luck for the upcoming year,
Vivian Lee, class of ’08 (and MIT ’12!)
P.S. Remember ATP, surface area, homeostasis, and reproduction… these four key words will get you through many of the horrors of AP Biology tests.