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Elijah Fang

Mrs. Hooks/Mrs. Priest

ERWC/Period 6

26 April 2019

Reflection Essay

The assignment I am most proud of is an argumentative essay I have completed in AP

English Language and Composition, in which we were analyzing the benefits and the drawbacks

of having a federal program that would encourage and incentivize eco-friendly alternatives of

transportation and punish those who continue to reject those very alternatives. First things first, I

consider myself a libertarian on the right of the political spectrum, so I already don’t like the idea

of a government incentivizing and/or punishing its citizens for not doing what the government

wants them to do. The reason why I am so proud of this certain essay is because it is the highest i

have ever scored on an assignment, an 8 out of 9 on an AP scale. I attribute my higher score to

the fact that I seemed to feel a bit more connected to the subject matter; I was a bit more

passionate writing about this rather than writing an analysis on a poem I didn’t even understand.

Throughout my high school career, I feel like the field I grew the most in is in math.

During middle school, I was placed in lower-level math classes and really wasn’t challenging

myself at the time. So, before I entered Great Oak High, I enrolled in Geometry over summer so

I can finally get to where I wanted to be. The math courses I took, chronologically, are Algebra

Two Plus, Precalculus, AP Calculus AB, and Financial Algebra; and with each class, I felt that

my understanding of varying math concepts have only gotten stronger and better. Also, my
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writing in English has gotten much better than how it was before. Sometimes, when I look at

essays I wrote as a freshmen, I often wonder what was going on inside my head at the time. For

science classes, I feel like I don’t know enough; I feel as if the things I learned were kept for the

year and then I completely just removed them out of my mind as soon as I finished the class, so

many science concepts that I should know are a bit foggy.

I was first introduced to Computer Science during my sophomore year, which is where I

finally discovered where my true passion belonged. I began delving into basic programming

during my sophomore year so I can sort of get a head start for the actual course, AP Computer

Science Principles. Overall, the course was fairly simple, starting off learning the basic syntax

and concepts of programming via JavaScript and then learning how multiple computers can

interact with one another through the beauty of the internet. I ended both semesters with an A

and got a 4 on the AP exam, but I was still left unsatisfied; I felt as if I didn’t get a solid grip on

the many concepts we went over throughout the course. You could ask me how the internet

works and how a computer processes binary data, and I would answer hesitantly and unsure; that

is not where I should be if I want to major in Computer Science in my opinion. Currently, I am

enrolled in AP Computer Science A, and I love the class. Even though my grades say I am doing

well in the class, I feel as if I am not doing good enough; I still feel the residue of dissatisfaction

left over from the Principles course and the current course I am taking. I’ve noticed that I am

always left with a bitter taste in my mouth when it comes to getting solid grades, because I don’t

think grades mean everything. Grades are a letter a teacher gives to you because that’s how they

perceive how you are doing in the class, but I don’t think it’s enough. After graduating, my next
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objective is to further my knowledge on Computer Science so I can truly excel in the field, not to

show off to others and prove that I am the ‘better programmer’ or whatever, but so I can prove to

myself that I am capable of removing that bitter taste of dissatisfaction if I just put my mind to it.

I plan on advancing in the computer science field by getting an internship throughout my college

career or by joining the United States Air Force as a commissioned officer with a bachelor’s

degree in Computer Science. With the degree, I could probably work as a cyber operations

officer, applying the concepts I have learned throughout my college career to perform offensive

and defensive cyber operations in the Air Force; I’ll basically be a hacker working for the USAF.

In my opinion, I think that Great Oak High School did an alright job preparing my peers

and I for the next part of our lives. On a social level, Great Oak contains around 3,500 students,

reminds me that the world is vast and I will meet many different people along the path of my

future. On a educational level, I really do not know. My sister, who took a whole lot of AP

courses in preparation for college, said that those same AP classes did nothing to prepare her for

the real deal at UC Irvine, so I am expecting the same kind of deal once I enter UC Riverside.

Luckily for my peers and I, Financial Algebra became an available course, so now I somewhat

know how to use a check, how interest rates accrue, and how to pay off my credit card debt.

Regarding my future career, I feel like the computer science courses offered at Great Oak High

School has done a pretty good job preparing me for the actual major and coursework. The main

computer science concepts, like loops and object-oriented-programming, are all covered in AP

Computer Science A, which is literally going to be the first few courses of the Computer Science

major.