hi beautiful person —
i hope you’re doing so super well, and if you’re not, then i hope everything gets better for you soon. i understand the irony between saying this as, a lot of us, have a big couple of weeks in front of us. however, regardless of how stressed we all are, it’s important that we’re taking care of ourselves, so please make sure you’re sleeping at least 8 hours, eating healthy and drinking enough water, and still taking time to do things you love and enjoy so that you don’t burn out.
this week’s article is more of a letter to you (and me because i need this reminder, too) than it is me just sharing my experience. i hope it helps you :)
i spent 90% of my summer last year writing a 170 page book about how grades don’t define you. that’s around 3-5 hours every day, whether my day started or ended at 3:00 am. that’s right — sometimes, i woke up at 3:00 am to write my book, and other times, i slept at that time.
“ok apuroopa, why are you telling me all of this?”
good question — i’m not trying to brag, although i understand that it may come off in that way. what i’m trying to get at is, to put it simply, you’re grades don’t define you. here, let me say it again:
what you get on your ap exams doesn’t define who you are as an individual.
i understand that after a year’s worth of learning, you just want to do well on these standardized tests, whether it be simply because you want to do well or because you want college credit. i understand how stressful it is to study and manage your time wisely but not burn yourself out. and i also understand how it’s really easy to forget that whatever score you may receive on your exam doesn’t make you any less intelligent or hard working than you are.
there’s two things my dad has taught me from day one that have helped me keep myself in check when it came to grades or school:
if this isn’t going to matter 5 years from now, why you are you giving it more than 5 seconds of thought?
one specific score that you get or don’t get on an ap exam isn’t going to make or break your future — remember that these scores are just a means to an end, just a score for a credit. so, although it may hurt in the moment, don’t let them demotivate you or change how you see yourself because they simply won’t matter in the long run.
you only control what you put into something, not the outcome.
if you’re putting your 100% into studying and go into the exam confidently, knowing that you managed your time wisely and prioritized what mattered to you, then whatever you get on your exam is irrelevant. of course, this is so much easier said than processed, but think about it — there are a variety of different factors that could’ve played into you not getting the score you wanted, but none of them reflect on your specific abilities as an individual.
in the end, whatever you do in your future isn’t going to look for scores on standardized tests — they’re going to look for how hard working, committed, and passionate you are. they’re going to look at your effort. and they’re going to value the time that you put into whatever it is you’re doing.
this is life. not what you get on one exam in one specific year of high school.
regardless of the circumstance, regardless of the fact that you may need to hear this, regardless of literally everything, i just wanted to say: i am so proud of you. you could be anywhere else doing anything else right now, yet you’re here and you’re working hard, and you deserve to be proud of yourself and to know that someone else is, too.
good luck on those ap exams! i’m sure all your hard work will pay off :)
with so so so much love,
apuroopa