Red Gold News

In a couple of days, the enduring hazy blue late nights spent looking over Newton’s fundamental laws of motion and the peppy chirpy lectures of Mr. Greg Jacobs will be brought to a close. A 45-minute blank white test will hurl the concepts of torque, kinematics, energy, and dynamics my way– all in two simple seperate questions.

I’ve always liked physics and naively ignored all the demeaning discredit many gave it. I thought: “Physics is literally just math— the actual love of my life— but applied to real world situations.” My soft impression of physics was just Math 2.0; little did I know a whole rocky, asteriod belt of complex physics questions moving faster than the speed of light would try to knock my determination to learn down. 

I now realize that even though—  at a glance— Physics uses many elements of Mathematics, they are as related as I am to my neighbor’s second cousin’s brother. Maybe I’m being a little exaggerated— just a tad bit irrational— but after studying seven heavy units of AP Physics, I, disappointingly, did little to no math while doing Physics problems. Physics had now become an even stepper mountain to climb— yet it wasn’t a complete hopeless ride. 

The conceptual questions on the Physics test always vary. Finding a small answer can take you as quick as a finger snap, or I’ll take staring at the empty computer screen for a good five minutes until that glorious “aha” moment hits. 

I talk from experience when I say that you have to carefully– and I cannot stress this enough– slowly, read the question being asked. Skimming over questions isn’t the best approach to AP; you could potentially miss a crucial component or detail given that is essential to solving the problem. From Mr. Joshua Beck’s calm and collected instructions, keeping your cool is the best way to go. Yes, AP gives more stress than a small orange fish in a sea of raging sharks, however, AP tests are not impossible to ace. That five is achievable; if—  along with the late night study sessions— you secure strong unwithering perseverance to successfully pass. 

Passing the Physics test is the top goal on my lengthy to do list. I spent a good 2-hour FaceTime call with my astonishingly crazy smart Physics buddy from Palmview to answer some free response questions. From that moment on, I grew increasingly confident in potentially passing this grueling test. All because I realized one thing— I wasn’t alone. 

Plenty of stressed out high schoolers across the nation are in your position. Whether it’s struggling with drastically different classes like AP World History or AP Macroeconomics, on the inside we’re all the same—  we want to pass. AP Season is here. What went from being eight long months away has now zoomed to the top of our calendars. The iridescent, stunning opportunity for well earned college hours is knocking on our door. The only question is: “Are we going to run the full tiresome mile to open it?”