Szoke 1

Alexander Szoke

Mrs. Cramer

College Comp Pd. 2

18 September 2020

College Application Narrative Prompt 2

“You have 5 minutes to submit your work,” the popup said. I froze and let out a, “What?”

I looked down at the work I had done on paper. There was no possible way to get my work from

the paper to the computer in less than 5 minutes without the risk of appearing to cheat. It was as

if my life flashed before my eyes in this moment, but instead of my life, it was the entire year of

calculus. In those few short moments, though, it felt like my life’s work added up to nothing. All

the math I did for years and years led up to AP Calculus, and this was how it ended. This must be

the most embarrassing way to fail the AP Calculus exam, I decided. It was not because I had

failed to master the material, but because I had failed to master the system.

I believe that under normal circumstances, it would have been much different. I, along

with my peers, have been taking standardized tests for as long as we can remember. It’s just a

part of life for students. These tests have been designed to test us on our mastery of the content

we learned in class. However, the standardized tests we take year after year are all structured

similarly. Taking a test requires one-part mastery of content and one-part mastery of the

structure.

The result is that students take the system for granted, myself included. I am used to

doing all of my math and reading on paper. Math on paper feels like complete freedom compared

to math on a computer, which feels constricting and awkward, especially when work must be
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shown. Reading something printed on paper allows one to annotate at will without having to

think about how to even do it. The pen and the paper work together fluently, and we all grew up

interacting with the text this way. On the computer, navigating a toolbar for different ways to

interact with the text is distracting and, once again, awkward, and that’s if the option to interact

with the text is even there.

This awkwardness brings us to the 2020 AP Exams. In March of 2020, schools across the

world closed to ensure the safety of students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effect it had

on the AP Exams was that nobody knew what they were going to look like. They turned out to be

online and without any multiple-choice questions. This was terrifying for countless students. It

was a system unlike anything else we’ve experienced. The stress was immense, as failing one

question could mean not earning college credit for that class. Unfortunately, I failed all the AP

Exams I took in 2020. If I had the chance to do it all again, I would prepare. I would practice on

the computer and get a feel for the new system of schoolwork. This entire experience was a

wakeup call for me that made me realize I had been taking the system for granted for years.