Jerry Alvarado

Advisory
Mr. Ewart
5 December 2013
Junior year at Vaughn has done a lot to prepare me for the future. The rigorous work, as
well as the need for continuous improvement has kept me on my feet and I believe it has
prepared me for the struggle in the future. Most notably, my experiences in my AP United States
History, as well as AP Language and Composition have given me valuable skills and knowledge
and facilitated my becoming a global citizen.
In AP Language, we were tasked with composing an essay that argues our position on
banning books, which we had previous experience with from Mrs. Mohrs banned book project.
The essay also had us focus on the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The essay that
I wrote is what I consider the pinnacle of my work. I put substantial effort into the essay and I
received a near perfect score, to my delight. Writing the essay forced me to recognize multiple
perspectives. We were told that a good essay required a concession, or recognition of opposing
views, so I found counterarguments to my claim, which was that the lessons a book give should
overshadow the controversy surrounding it. I addressed these arguments to disprove them and
attempt to provide a solution to their problems. Among the counterarguments were that the
books were difficult to teach and I responded by giving proven methods of teaching from my
research. Another was that the word might emotionally hurt or embarrass some students and my
reply was that ignoring the problem would only make it worse and that our history with slavery
and racism should be looked in the face rather than avoided. The essay, obviously, also required
me to communicate my ideas, which took form in me arguing my position to the reader. I also
learned to recognize perspective when finding a concession. At the beginning of the year, my
skills at finding and addressing opposing views were weak, but after writing this essay, I have
mastered this skill. I have also improved on my communicating abilities as the vocabulary used
in this essay was extremely more academic than in previous writing.
AP United States History has also prepared me greatly for senior year and for college.
Since summer, every week we are to read chapters in the textbook, which is very dull and then
complete three to four pages of Cornell-style notes. Then at the end of the week we take a forty
question quiz on the chapter. The rigorous work surely matches what will be found in college.
The almost constant testing forces myself and my classmates to study hard in order to pass the
quiz. This skill we be obviously be useful in college as my study skills are not adequate and I
need all the help I can get. It also allowed me to develop my note taking skills, which I will need
for studying, and reviewing material in future classes.