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qtr 1 curricula

honors 100 / english 182 / math 124 / chem 142 

chemistry/math

my very first weed out classes <3. surprisingly, chem 142 was my easiest class this quarter. having spent high school in the ib program, i came to uw with pretty solid study habits, so i found the transition from hs chemistry to studying at the speed and intensity of chem 142 to be natural. so far, i'm proud of my scores in my labs and the midterms, and i think my studying has paid off (check out that first cheat sheet)! while studying for math, the speed at which we learned new content was definitely a shift, but meticulously doing each practice exam and keeping track of my weaknesses left me happy with how both midterms went. however, in both chem and math, i experienced a lot of anxiety about never being able to be 'on top' of my work and always feeling unbalanced between my other classes - i think a sense of security in my studying will come with time, and also as i continue getting a grasp on how much i need to study to get the scores i want, instead of going 100% every day. 

English

before this class, i don't think my writing ability had improved since 9th grade. i'd always been content to write a draft and turn it straight in, and that method consistently yielded me great results in high school. but, on the first draft of an essay that analyzed how cat adoption posters used rhetorical appeal to generate action, i was suddenly just hitting 'standard'. i realized that although i really loved and cared about the topic, none of my passion showed through because first drafts would always be unpolished. trying to improve in writing was completely different from studying a science class, and to engage wholly, i had to do more than read the textbook and do the assignments. i'm extremely thankful for the friends i made in that class, because we routinely peer-edited each others projects and each person was able to contribute something unique that evolved my own writing style. 

intro to honors 

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'how was the assignment?' shannon, my peer educator, asked our class. 'absolutely terrible' we replied. and it was, but making our four-year plan a month into our first quarter was also extremely rewarding, as if we were solidifying the fact that we would really spend 4 years here. as i'm nearing finals week, it's scary to think about how fast this quarter has flown by. the importance of making time for moments of reflection and planning for the future becomes so paramount when i could so easily spend my free time watching tv (which i deserve to do). i've grown to learn that consciously making the choice to progress or think about any task, no matter how insignificantly, is the first step towards finishing that task. even now, at the tail end of my first quarter, i'm really happy with how that has changed my work ethic and attitude towards school in general.

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