Acknowledgments

 Acknowledgments

My AP lang journey has been a crazy rollercoaster. I started the year off by getting absolutely demolished by vocabulary quizzes and synthesis essays which really sunk me down to rock bottom.

First and foremost, I want to thank Mrs. Valentino from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much for exposing me to literature that highlights other people's histories, cultures, and experiences; it has increased my empathy both as a reader and as a person. At first, I found it unexplainably difficult to connect with the materials in class but your input truly made it so much easier. Thank you for always surprising me with new facts that would quite literally drop my jaw and make me think more critically of the things that we don't always notice at first glance. As the year ends, I will truly miss your “Get here on time!”.  

To my table mates, Hannah, Natalie, Divya, Arya, and Anna Sofia - thank you for the countless discussions, laughs, and feedback. Every day I learned something new from you all about various different things. Thank you Hannah for always being on the same page as me regarding AP lang and AP gov and listening to me rant about almost everything. Thank you Natalie for making me realize the importance of annotations and different colored pens. I’ll eventually follow the advice that you gave me during our Maus group. Thank you Divya for always teaching me something new. I’ll never be able to forget the word cynical so thank you so much for that Arya! Thank you Anna Sofia for making me laugh SO much you’re the funniest person ever. I’m so glad that we had to choose new seats in the second semester and I got to sit with you all and truly find my place in this class. 

I’m also thankful to Maus. Maus helped me learn so much about history and how generational differences and traumas are passed on. For me, the graphic novel was undoubtedly eye-opening. After reading it, I became acutely aware of how traumatizing it must have been for survivors to share their tales and how only they can really comprehend their own emotions. It also helped me understand how generational trauma is perceived on both ends of the spectrum - as in the person who’s faced first-hand trauma as well as someone who’s facing the consequences of someone else's trauma.

I’m most thankful for Akshaya. Thank you for always being there for me after all the vocabulary quizzes, seminars, and in-class essays. I’m so glad I had you to turn to when I did not know what was going on in class or whether or not I was doing something wrong. Thank you for all the times you answered my late-night calls about homework, vocabulary quizzes, and everything else. I’m so grateful for having a friend like you in this class. 

Thank you, Rhea, for the endless conversations and reassurance after all the essays and discussions. I’m also thankful to Sukruta for helping me out throughout the year - emotionally and mentally. I’m so glad I had a “book buddy” like her.  Last but not least I would like to thank the class google calendar for reminding me of the homework I forgot to do on the weekends and would rush into on Sunday nights and all the blog posts I did last minute. 

I will treasure this class for years to come since it has been more than simply a course—it has been a journey of self-discovery, exploration, and development.