Bittersweet Farewell

As the days in our high school and AP English career wane, I am in utter disbelief as to where the time has gone.  I fully realize that our last day of school is this Friday and I know how soon we will go off to college and start real life, it seems to be anything anyone will talk about nowadays.  Yet, I am still in complete shock.  I feel like an underclassman, blundering about without any grasp on reality that I’m even in high school.  And now it’s time to go.  I’m not old enough for this.  Somewhere in between the journals and multiple choice games and complaining about datasheets and soapstones and graded discussions and blogs of course, we grew up.  Definitely in intelligence.  Inevitably in age. Debatably in maturity.  Now, despite learning for two years how to best express my thoughts and emotions into cohesive prose, I will turn to various song lyrics as a means of attempting to relay this fleeting, bittersweet, incredulous, feeling to you all.  Without further ado, I leave you with a short play list of song lyrics:

“Say goodbye to the freak show
Say hello to the footlight's glow
Your success can only grow
Say goodbye to the freak show
…
Farewell don’t forget us
Do tell how you met us
Don’t dwell on sorrow as you go
You will farewell” (“Say Goodbye to the Freak Show” Side Show)

“How do I say goodbye to what we had?
The good times that made us laugh
Outweigh the bad
I thought we’d get to see forever
But forever’s gone away
It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday” (“It’s so Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” Boyz II Men)

“Something is stirring
shifting ground
It's just begun.
Edges are blurring
all around
and yesterday is done
Feel the flow
hear what's happening
We're what's happening
Don't ya know
We're the movers and
We're the shapers
We're the names in tomorrow's papers
Up to us, man, to show 'em.” (“Our Time” Steven Sondheim)

“I've paid my dues -
Time after time -
I've done my sentence
But committed no crime -
And bad mistakes
I've made a few
I've had my share of sand kicked in my face -
But I've come through
We are the champions - my friends!” (“We are the Champions” Queen)

Why AP English?

1.  Are you a GPA-monger? A’s in AP classes count for a 5 on the 4 point scale, but you already knew that didn’t you? If you get an A, first I applaud your dedication and effort, way to go! Also you’ve just boosted your GPA, well done.  Even if you get a B, still a lot of hard work, more applause, you will still find a grade booster in the effort.
2.  The quote sheets.  Essentially a list of inside jokes that you’re a part of! Hooray for friends! Plus, you can revel in the thought of people laughing about how funny you are by something you said, or at least could have said.
3.  Your AP English class can become like a family.  You’ve been through some good times, and oh, how you’ve been through some tough times, but it was all together.  It’s so nice to have a group of people on the same page as you (oh, the English puns!).  You’ll also find some fantastic friendships with people you wouldn’t necessarily befriend without this class.
4.  Stickers.  There is no greater accomplishment (total hyperbole guys, don’t worry, it’s not only downhill from here on out) than finding a shiny sticker atop your paper.  You probably worked very hard for it, and you earned it, these bad boys are few and far between.  Simply knowing that you are among the elite few to receive such an award should make you happy.
5.  You’ll end up feeling like a really smart person, because you are, of course.  This class stretched my brain further than most, from the sometimes deep in-class discussions to out of class papers.
6.  The multiple choice game. At the end of the quarter, after working your butt off to maintain your thin-ice grade, lies two days of stress free pure competition.  You can make up cool team names and cheers and cheer as you rack up extra credit points. 
7.  Understanding poetry is such a good skill in life.  Not that people go around forcing poems upon others at gunpoint making them analyze them or die an early death, but I’ve heard stories.  Seriously though, it’s nice not being a dense, soulless human being when it comes to poems.
8.  Field trips!  You may get a chance to go downtown to see Othello or another play you’ve read.  As a bonus to the fun, you could be the lucky winner of a seat on the bus with Ms. Serensky.
9.  For the day that it’s over.  These two years of painful strife, as much as I would go back and do it again in a heartbeat and as much as I’ve grown as a person, have been well worth it, but it’s nice to know there is no datasheet in my immediate future.  I cannot explain the pure elation I’ve felt today.
10.  Bobbie Jo Serensky.  You may fear her most, if not all, the time.  But a) she’s 100% for your success, she’ll help you out; and b) she’s one of the funniest people I know, she will laugh at you, but you’ll probably deserve it, and it will be hilarious.

Flies on the Wall of the AP English 12 Exam

[Lady Bracknell, Ralph, and R.P. McMurphy peer through the Rec Center window to watch the AP English 12 students writhe in anxiety as they take their AP exam]

Lady Bracknell: “It’s delightful to watch them” (Wilde 9).

Ralph: [with disgust] “It’s written all over you” (Currie 245). 

[The three zero in on one particular student, a Miss Mary Beth O’Neil, who seems to be working slower than her classmates]

Lady Bracknell: “I wish [she] would arrive at some conclusion” (Wilde 52). 

Ralph: “Quit worrying!” (Currie 246). 

R.P. McMurphy: “Why, don’t you know, buddy?” (Kesey 60). 

Ralph: [glances at the multiple choice question] “I’m not really sure I understand it myself” (Currie 249). 

Lady Bracknell: “Come dear. We have already missed five if not six” (Wilde 50). 

[She finally selects an answer and they let her go on without much heckling and turn to the rest of the room.  Next comes free response and they again find someone who seems to struggle with the time, comparatively]

Lady Bracknell: “It is obviously the same person” (Wilde 50). 

R.P. McMurphy: “Well you didn’t make her feel like any queen” (Kesey 185). 

Lady Bracknell: “most attractive young lady, now that I look at her” (Wilde 47). 

R.P. McMurphy: [looks at the stop time rapidly approaching on the large clock] “Not very long…” (Kesey 278).

Ralph: “I don’t really keep track of time out here” (Currie 253). 

Lady Bracknell: [sees Mary Beth dividing her time into sharp eight-minute segments] “It looks so calculating…” (Wilde 49). 

Ralph: “it feels like [she] wants to do everything all at once” (Currie 245). 

[At the anticlimactic end to the long exam, and thus the end to the students’ AP English career, the three observers disappointedly walk away from the Rec]

Lady Bracknell: “Education produces no effect whatsoever” (13).

R.P. McMurphy: “For a minute there, I thought I was back in a Red Chinese prison camp” (Kesey 66). 

Ralph: “It doesn’t take long in this place before you start looking like you’ve been here forever” (Currie 245).  

Importance of Importance

I loved Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Due to the high level of dishonesty and other nonsense of the play, I would sooner call it The Impotence of Any Attempt at Being Earnest, but I digress.   I loved it, first off, for the way in which we studied this book, in a stress-free environment of 50 minutes of pure entertainment.  What more could I have asked for, than to do a daily dramatic, but entirely hilarious, read-through? From the first time I laid eyes on Wilde’s work, “I knew I was destined to love [it]” (Wilde 10).  Not only that, but our Dover publication saved a total of 34 trees! This play offered the best English experience for a solid week, and all the while I felt as if I decreased my carbon footprint in some convoluted way.  I also especially enjoyed The Importance of Being Earnest because of the witty humor, with such odd characters and such perfect one-liners.  Lady Bracknell served as a particularly great source of that ridiculous humor, especially when she demands that Jack “produce … one parent, of either sex, before the season is quite over” (Wilde 15).  The whole play left me in stitches, with such enjoyment and laughter only rivaled by a day earlier this year when Team Toast and I inhabited a particularly slap-happy mood and Ms. Serensky asked, “Do I have to check your bags for alcohol?” (Serensky). Turning to a serious note, albeit hard to do in such a whimsical, fun play, this play also offered good quotes on life itself.  Few and far between, Algernon asserts “the truth is rarely pure and never simple” (Wilde 6).  How true, Algernon, thank you for the words of wisdom.  I liked that this play, while being fun and hilarious, still had a legitimate point to offer, there still existed truth in its pages. 


p.s. http://www.playbill.com/multimedia/video/4582.html
All of you should watch this video.  Please excuse what explicit content it contains. The actors who played Algernon and Jack in Broadway's recent cast of The Importance of Being Earnest dress in their costumes and don their witty, over-the-top personalities, as they read through transcripts from Jersey Shore.  Whether or not you like the show, you're sure to be entertained by the odd combination of high-class Victorian Era aristocrats and the wild lifestyle of those on MTV's Jersey Shore.

Top Ten Most Thrilling Academic Moments at CFHS

1.      1. Getting accepted into Northwestern: Perhaps more than the elation of receiving admission to such a fantastic school, I was greeted that day by an enthusiastic cafeteria of applause.  I mostly grant this to the general merriment of the last day before spring break and the fun of clapping, but still, “what a fight. What a victory” (Kesey 275)

2.      2. Doing the entire Othello datasheet in 13 consecutive hours: Sorry Ms. Serensky, the truth had to come out. I did not know how epic the task before me would be, so I spent the day in the library lazily looking for quotes, but altogether not getting anything accomplished.  The thrilling part came with a sigh after printing the beast and was reiterated when I got an A on it, with a shiny monkey sticker atop.  One might think, “this was so stupid. I don’t do s*** like this,” but sadly, I do-quite often (Currie 205).

3.      3. Completing all the essays on the AP English 11 Test: I remain notorious, much to my chagrin, for struggling to finish timed essays.  So when I took the AP Test and somehow found enough time to complete all three essays, I was baffled and overjoyed.  I was much more satisfied when I walked into the commons and found Ms. Serensky, who asked but one simple question—had I finished? She gave me a look like “the happiness of more than one life depends on your answer” (Wilde 52).  Fortunately for everyone, I could answer with a smiling yes.

4.      4. Earning a Cup of Knowledge in AP Chemistry: I got not one, but two shiny beakers for earning the highest grade on a chapter test.  I won’t mention the multitude that a Mr. Alex Kreger has won.  I try to ignore him and think of my small victories, even if they were on the classic PV=nRT tests. In fact, I like to think that “the other kids think [I’m] a Jedi or something” (Currie 59).

5.      5. Induction into the Cum Laude Society: There’s nothing quite like recognition when people notice, “there’s a sensible, intellectual girl!” (Wilde 18). More than the administration recognizing the hard work associated with high GPA, I most enjoyed the photo of the fall inductees.  This photo was serendipitously taken on Superhero Day in Homecoming Week, so Kyle had his ten-year-old power ranger costume on.

6.      6. Beating Sam “35” Schiferl in AP Comp. Sci.: Sam and I sat next to each other for most of second semester of AP Computer Science.  As per usual, he made a competition out of most everything, from who could log on to their computer fastest (when I got to class first, I would inevitably be disqualified) to the progress book grades once we logged on.  So you can imagine my excitement when we received a Friday AP problem back and I earned a higher score, making any of his intelligence, for the day at least, defunct. “He’s never written a single book, so you can imagine how much he knows” (Wilde 34).

7.      7. Appearances on Bobbie’s Blog Banter: I do believe I was the first blog to be bantered, back when I made an awkward comment about marrying Andrew Weaver to get a W last name.  I didn’t know how to react in those early stages, but now I accept the credit gracefully, all the while beaming with joy on the inside. There are few things that offer the same surprise and pride than a Serensky nod in the form of a slot of BBB.  Apparently, I love the recognition in front of my peers, “I am very fond of being looked at” (Wilde 35)

Academic success!
Look at him fist pump that diploma!

8.      8. Getting Accepted into Villanova: It was a lovely December afternoon when I received a text from Jillian telling me to check my ‘Nova account.  She effectively took out any surprise in finding a letter or email, so good or bad, “I could see it coming” (Kesey 172). 

9.      9. Winning the Best Essay For Those in AP English 11 Who Wrote About Uncle Pa Keating Award: Judging by the sheer length of the title, it was quite a narrow pool to win from.  But still, the competition was fierce and “I worked at it” (Kesey 288).  I would not be embarrassed to say that the “very special person” ribbon is currently hanging on my wall; in fact, I may bring it to college for bragging rights.

10.  10. Art in the Tiger Times: “This last is both a relief and a worry” (Currie 177).  My painting of my brother and grandpa appeared on the back cover of the Tiger Times completely to my surprise.  I think the newspaper staff must have snuck into the art room to steal it.  But I was excited, even thrilled, and happy to get featured in such a way.  And now, the piece, albeit a dark photocopy, hangs on the AP English 12 board.

Laundering Through Poetry

Without a doubt, my favorite poem of the year goes by the name “Sorting Laundry,” by the wonderfully acclaimed poet, Elisavietta Ritchie.  To begin, with a name like Elisavietta, a poem has to impress.  True, it’s no Ernest, but still, “it is a divine name. It has a music of own” (11).  The title and action of the poem reminds me of my favorite domestic activity: sorting laundry, of course! This is a lie, actually.  As much as I love the organization of going through dirty clothes and sorting them by color, I get stressed out deciding whether or not the in-betweens like light, light blues belong in the colors or whites.  I would offer to do all of your laundry, since I am oh so good at the task, but “I don’t like your clothes” so I certainly would not like to sort through them (30).  In fact, “your dress is sadly simple” (47).  But that is neither here nor there.  Back to the beautiful poetry of Elisavietta Ritchie.  Despite the long overall length of the poem, at a whopping 51 lines, each singular line had well under ten words each.  A big thanks for that Ms. Ritchie, you made my reading experience an enjoyable one! My favorite moment, by far, happened in the fourteenth stanza (have fun counting)  when the poem shifts from nostalgic laundering to intense desperation with the line “former lover…”.  The ellipsis certainly helps display that change, but my first time reading through it, I chuckled from the surprise.  I thank Elisavietta Ritchie for the entertaining and enthralling poem, and for teaching me “the Vital Importance of” forgiving and forgetting lover’s issues and never holding on to jealousy (54).

Confrontation

Dallas Green: “Good to meet you. Good to meet you” (76). I’m Dallas Green.

Dale Harding: Oh I know very well who you are. I only wish I could say the same to you.

Green: What?! We’ve only just met! How have I upset you?

Harding: Oh, I think you know why.

Green: Is this about Vera?

Harding: And the truth comes out! I knew this day would come. It’s so typical of her. But to choose someone with such a “crusty surface” (66)? Seriously Vera? Why not me? I’ve got to be more handsome than this guy… right? … [trails off, bordering an anxiety attack]

Green: “enjoying the view son?” (76).  I don’t need this mockery.  You think it was just a fling “just to piss in your soup?” (79). I really love her.

Harding: I’ve heard enough.  I think it’s time that you should go.

Green: “I do what I want” (79).

Harding: So I’ve heard.

Green: “You think you can come here and intimidate me?” (79).  Not on my watch, sir.  If you want to fight, let’s fight.  I’m gonna get real weird with it.  Let’s take this outside.

Harding: We’re not going anywhere.  In fact, “you won’t be going any place for a while” (75).  Except, perhaps, to the Ward for a lovely lobotomy.  I’ve got friends in high places, Green.