One time that I struggled with a class was my sophomore year taking AP US History. This class was my first AP class as well as apart of my weaker subjects along with English. I was horrible at remembering dates, or the causes and effects of different events. Along with who influenced who in different decisions like the decision to become a Democracy or deciding and creating the framework for the country. For the first few months I trudged through the course barely making it by and blaming everything but myself and coming up with a myriad of reasons not to blame myself. Until I finally owned up to what was always true, I wasn’t putting enough effort and was giving up before I even tried, it wasn’t until I was almost failing the course that I came to this realization. I began to change my attitude and ability in the subject after comparing it to my better subjects and teaching myself history as I would math and science. Equations and calculations always came easier to me that just dates and numbers. After applying this method I began to see an improvement in my memory and recall skills, as well as my ability to explain why things occurred when they occurred. This class made me realize that by applying my best subjects, like math and reading, to the subjects that I lack in I can make up a little of the difference and improve my understanding and performance throughout the year in the course. During that same year I began applying it to my other subjects like English and Spanish, which were other subjects I struggled with. I continue to use this technique in my classes this year like my AP US Government and Politics class and World Lit and Composition course. I plan to continue to use this later in life especially during my college years in many of my courses.
