In order to take AP Government and Politics as a sophomore at my high school, I had to get above a 95% in freshman history, Cultures and Civilizations, and at least a 93% in our difficult English curriculum. I ended the first semester with a 99% in Cultures and Civilizations and 92.5% in English—a mere half percent too low. Upon receiving my course information as an incoming freshman, I planned out all of my classes, and AP Gov fit flawlessly into the path that I wanted and thought that I had to take. I talked to my English teacher, who agreed to recommend me into the class like my counselor told me to ask her to do, but my history teacher and the social studies department were adamant: I could not take AP Gov as a sophomore with a B+ in
With wonderful learning opportunities, a team of sharp and intelligent classmates and teachers, and specialized equipment, the Governor’s School at Innovation Park is the ultimate dream of all determined math/science devotees. With my natural curiosity for mathematics and science and eagerness to take on challenging ideas, I can collaborate with the team at Governor’s School to develop our wide spectrum of ideas and abilities into a highly sophisticated product.
The first four weeks of CR510 have prompted this student to reflect on her years of teaching in the public school setting. Having experienced many similar complexities to the ones in the text, this student is sympathetic to the challenges facing those in the education system and is eager to find opportunities to offer a better solution for all involved. CR510 has strengthened this student's belief that a third party neutral can provide valuable benefits to educational systems at all levels.
Students should communicate with their counselors to select a manageable course load based on their own aptitude and interests. Certain combinations of the most difficult AP classes may be difficult to handle for all but the most brilliant students. However by making smart informed decisions, students can challenge themselves by taking appropriate AP classes.
To truly understand my “mental story” in its entirety, it is important to look back upon my mentality when I chose to take AP Government and also what I previously knew before my first day of class. Politics was never my subject of choice. When I toured Georgetown and almost chose to pursue it, I convinced myself that the political scene and Washington D.C was not all that interesting to me. However, as the political scene began to somehow consistently appear on nearly every television channel, I decided that government and politics were areas that I might find interest in. As a naïve sophomore, I decided I would dedicate my senior humanities to studying government because I lacked a great amount of knowledge. The information I did know was limited, however. I knew Political figures are in a constant pursuit of power, and that democracy is the rule by the people. On the other
AP Seminar was my first experience in an environment that was completely dedicated to learning, without the fixation on the letter grades that ‘determine’ success. My peers were my teachers. I discussed, debated, and collaborated with peers that shared various viewpoints on thought provoking issues that challenged my own. I learned to ask the ‘Whys?,’ ‘Hows?,’ and ‘What Ifs?’ and dive deeper into discussion. The environment fostered differences in interests, mindsets, and intellect. My attraction drew me to seek an intellectually diverse learning environment that challenges my preconceived opinions and ideas. Columbia, through the Core system, acknowledges and uniquely accomplishes the same goals of learning as my AP Seminar class. The prospect
John Steinbeck and Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK Jr.) have both gone down in American literature as some of the most influential authors, but why? Steinbeck was an influential author throughout the 20th century with pieces in many genres. On the flip side is Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights leader in the fight against racial discrimination. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the style of these two authors, it is necessary to compare them on the bases of repetition, tone, and purpose.
During the nation’s founding, parties were widely considered to be dangerous to good government and public order, especially in republics. In such an intellectual climate, no self-respecting leader would openly set out to organize a political party. The pervasive fear of parties reflected both historical experience and widely held eighteenth-century beliefs. People in authority saw themselves as agents acting on behalf of the whole community; any organized opposition was therefore misguided at best, treasonous at worst. Accepting the same perspective, rivals justified their opposition by imagining that those in power were betrayers of the community’s trust.
From even before the arrival of some of the first pilgrims to the eastern coast of the Americas, to the effects of Chief Justice Marshall’s court decisions, and FDR’s new deal. The American political system has been actively changing since over a century before the United States was founded and will more than likely continue to evolve in our present day and future. The changes of our political system can be due to multiple reasons including fear of establishing a tyrant state, such as Great Britain in the 17th and 18th century, the failure of the Articles of Confederation, the economic state of the Nation and several key historical persona with great ideologies that have molded not only politics but our Nation as a whole.
The question asked “ Based on your understanding of the text and class lectures, do you know enough about American Parties and elections to understand contemporary American politics?” (Take Home Test). To answer this question I would say yes I have learned enough in this class to say that I do understand enough about contemporary American politics in general. I do however believe that American politics is a living thing and that change can happen at any time and no one can learn or know enough about contemporary American politics. I think the most useful things that we learned in class to help with a general understanding is how the system works and the over abundance of problems that the system does have. The basic concepts that
Initial Reflective Essay When I first thought of what I wanted to do with my life after college, the first thing I thought of was helping people. The next step in deciding what I wanted to do with my life was to examine how I could accomplish this goal. I started pondering and I was thinking about how much I love to take care of my body. Health care and personal hygiene has always been an important factor in my life. So I decided to major in Health Sciences.
What might be meant by the concept of political power and what might be meant by the concept of political authority? Can states possess both power and authority?
The class that I like the least my freshman year is government, not only did I find out after half of the semester that I did not need the class I found out that I could not drop the class because I had to have 12 credits for my financial aid to cover my classes. I was so mad at my advisor for putting me in a class that I did not need and putting me in a situation that I could not do anything about. So I finished the class and ended with a low grade because I did not enjoy the class. I did not like the teacher he made a lot of squiggly lines and boxes and circles and I need words not just random drawings on a dry erase board and that was not even the worst part I told him that I couldn’t understand his way of teaching and he told me to do the best I can so I think it’s his fault that I didn’t do well. I also got the book to the class to find out that he don’t teach out of the book so I paid for it for no reason, he did not teach anything out of the book which is where I turned to since I could not understand him. Then I could not understand a word he said his accent was so bad that ...
Second hand smoke is a different combination of air and the smoke that comes from the cigarette and the smoke breathed out by a smoker. This happens when a non-smoker is around someone smoking, therefore, breathing in secondhand smoke. According to the various research which were done by W H O, second hand smoke have been proofed to contain more than 7000 harmful chemical and 250 of these chemicals are known to be harmful to one’s health.
Writing a reflection and a summary of dozens of experiences is very challenging and demanding. I cannot count how many ups I had, yet I cannot deny the fact that I had some downs where I could transform them to ups. The year was full of challenges, excitement, fear and lessons. Each Wednesday I had mixed emotions. Every time I came to school I had the same fear and heartbreaks. In my reflection I am willing to compare between Adan at the beginning of the year and new Adan I became.
The American political system is representative democracy. There are three branches in the federal government under the Constitution. The legislative power is assigned in the Congress and made up of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The most powerful in Congress is made laws and controlled finances of the U.S. The President is head of state, chief executive, enforces federal laws, control foreign policy. He serves as the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, and he has power make treaties with Senate approval. Back to nineteenth century, the President’s power was weak. The Presidency office had a little bit international ties, and they didn’t have any standing in army. Most of the power in the hands of Congress. Without the power in hands, Washington and Thomas Jefferson served with some unwillingness. Woodrow Wilson insinuated that the U.S. government is a “congressional government”. However, nowadays the President’s power is really strong. For example, the President has right to launch a nuclear attack. The Presidency office has the most power, especially when it under George Bush. Some scholars and commentators called that “imperial presidency” in the U.S. political system nowadays. Both