That school dream I had the other night--where I am given my schedule, am enraged that there are no Honors courses on it, especially in English--reminds me of several things. First, how humiliating it was to be ignored by teachers, who refused to recognize my brilliance. Second, that not all the brilliant people I know today were Honors or AP scholars. And to those who were, just how far did it take you? Are you any better, or worse, for it? The cartoon above gets at what I think is the crux of the matter, which is that the students teachers favor are the ones who test well--scoring high on AP and other exams--forgetting those of us, like myself, who perform better.
More of this was triggered the other night, while riding home on the R train. A man who teaches AP Physics at one of the high schools in Brooklyn, and a mother, whose daughter was school age, were talking of the merits of AP. Boy, did I want to jump in, because I am living proof it does not matter. I found this out, when I got to college.
My advisor, who had never met me, after looking my record over, immediately placed me in the most advanced Theology class he could find--even though, not having gone through Catholic school, I had never taken a course in that subject, to begin with. Wish, in retrospect, that course had included Latin.
Meanwhile, I was having a horrible time in Freshman English, though not for the usual reasons. Many find this their most difficult course; I was just the opposite. After just three sessions, I was bored out of my skull; I thought the class was too easy. I was torn, as to what to do. If I said something to the teacher, I would seems like the worst snob. On the other hand, if I continued like this, I know I would start cutting class. But the professor took care of it for me. At the end of the fourth class, he kept me after, asked if I was finding all this too easy. I said yes, and he wavered my requirement, and plunked me into two Senior Honors Courses--Contemporary Literature (where we read authors like Saul Bellow, and Kingsley Amis!!!!!!!!) and Introduction To Literary Criticism--which says it all!!!!!!!!! I aced both, and was stimulated in a way I hadn't been in Freshman English. It was also gratifying, for a change, to be recognized by teachers for my smarts. I was too used to being ignored.
It wasn't till I was out of school that I realized--I had beaten the AP system! I reaped all the benefits, at least with English and Theology, without ever having to take the exam!!!!!!
So, what does that say about those who take it? Maybe, like the cartoon, that test taking is all they can do!!!!!!!!!!!
But, then, why do I still want to audit an AP English class?????????????????
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