Going into my first day of my senior year of high school, I was quite relaxed. However, there was one class that I knew would be challenging: AP Calculus. I hadn’t taken math the year before, so I knew that I would both be rusty, and wouldn’t know some of the concepts that my other classmates knew. 

Entering the class, within the first few minutes, I knew deep down that I was ill prepared. Frequently spending hours on my homework, I just somehow couldn’t seem to grasp what was going on. However, when we moved on to the “actual” AP Calculus section after reviewing for the first few days, I knew that I would end up loving this class. 

Going into the first lesson, I absolutely loved how Ms. Wang explained everything; going over definitions and examples, she always spoke with such confidence, and genuinely seemed to have the fervent desire to inspire young minds. Whenever I’d ask a question, I love how she would meticulously answer it–if it was a homework assignment that required a concept, rather than just explaining it verbally, she would give me a problem to solve and would explain the concept that way. 

Through this class, I’ve had to learn new ways to study for a math class. As previous to this, I’d never really had a problem with math. While I’m still learning through trial and error, I really like how if Ms. Wang notices I am struggling while doing homework in class, she would come over and help me and ask guiding questions to help lead me to the right answer. 

When talking to her outside of class, I could tell that she genuinely enjoyed assisting in molding minds. When asking her advice about an AP exam I was debating on taking for a different class, she gave me exceptional advice; while she may not have completely understood why I was taking an AP class without taking the exam, she did seem to genuinely care and gave me advice about telling my teacher that I wouldn’t be taking the exam. 

Overall, being in this class has been one of the most challenging, yet fulfilling experiences I’ve had thus far; from always having the opportunity to learn new things and adding this to the list of challenges that I’ve overcome, Ms. Wang is truly one of the best teachers to ever exist.