AP English Literature

I’ll keep this short because it’s late for me.

When I was a senior in high school I took AP English Literature for my English credit. I wasn’t a huge fan of my teacher for most of the year for no good reason if I’m being honest - he just kinda bugged me. If I think about it for a second longer it probably had to do with the fact that I would often try to bullshit my way through school because I had had a decent amount of success doing that, but that wasn’t the case with this guy. None of my go-to moves worked in AP Lit. We would read a bunch of books - I say read but I mean I would carry a bunch of books in my backpack for a few weeks and then return them and we would have socratic seminars where the class would sit in a circle and speak about the reading. I think I might have even mentioned the seminars before on the blog. Forgive me if I’ve repeated myself.

Anyway, toward the end of the year we had one assignment coming up that everyone was particularly stressed about. Perhaps it was a big paper on Moby Dick or it might have even been the AP test for the college credit… whatever it was, kids were losing it. I very clearly remember my teacher standing at the front of his class insisting we were being irrational. He said “Look whatever happens with the [test or assignment] tomorrow is going to happen. The sun will set, and the next day, the sun will rise again and it’ll all be ok.”

I think back to that moment in time more often than I could have ever imagined I would. It’s been particularly useful to practice that mindset this year amidst a lot of uncertainty regarding our business. It’s a good practice to step outside of your situation and remember that the sky isn’t falling, that it doesn’t have to be as stressful as you’re making it. Take it in stride. You’ll be better off for it.

Thanks, teach.

-J.P.