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When I first entered the exam room for AP Lit, I have to admit that I was really nervous. Although we prepared for the exam throughout the entire year, I was just hoping that my skills would reflect what I had learned, and I had learned so much. My desire for a 5 wasn’t because I was hoping for college credit or because I wanted to say that I earned a 5 on AP Literature. I was driven to do my best on the AP exam, so I could give justice to what Mrs. Clinch has done for our class and what she has done for me. While I wasn’t as successful in the poetry and prose passages as I hoped I would be, I actually enjoyed the exam, and I thank Mrs. Clinch for providing me with a new and exciting love for literature.

After first entering Mrs. Clinch’s AP Lit class, I had learned of certain horror stories about all the work that she gives. Still, I looked confidently through my summer reading annotations, thinking that I had at least scraped a low A. Upon received my low B, I was a little bit in shock. I wasn’t used to putting so much work into an assignment and getting a terrible grade out of it. I didn’t realize then that literature was so much more about hard work. Sure, I could have gotten average grades simply putting in effort into my assignments, but I think that I really started being successful in the class when I started enjoying reading, writing, and analyzing.

Honestly, I have always been more of a math and science person, always striving to solve logical problems that have definite answers. I think that before this class, I always did approach my timed writings through a certain logical lens. Now, I can’t honestly and truly say that I am in love with literature. I loved going to class every day and hearing all the brilliant theories in the class. I loved the ability to converse about a book that conveyed so much in so little words. I loved how we all had a teacher who cared so much that she opened up her mind and her heart so that we could appreciate literature just a little bit more.

I’m not the best at conveying emotions, and I really don’t like to show my sentimental side. Still, I think I can get pretty emotional, and sitting here writing this blog is making me sad. I’m not going to see most of the people in high school ever again, and I won’t get to have many more discussions in our amazing, tiny, intelligent, crazy, and wonderful lit class. In fact, I think it is now just hitting me that our lives are about to change. And I absolutely hate change. I hate that we all are going to move away, and as odd as it sounds, I am upset that I am leaving high school. I don’t feel like I am ready to move away, and I really wish that I could spend another four years in Alpharetta, Georgia. Still, I know that I need to move on one day, and it’s going to be really, really hard to let go of all the people in high school. Ms. Clinch, you have prepared so well for all the Lit classes that I am going to take, and I’ll be sure to try to “make the world more beautiful.” I can truly say that, at least for me, you have made literature so incredibly beautiful.