As seen on TV

Kenny, Tanner, Ivan, and I won second place in the programming competition, and Mr. Mumtaz, our programming teacher, had promised us some recognition on the school's morning TV announcements. I had never been on the show live before, so I thought it would be interesting. Plus, since nobody seemed to know that the programming competition existed, this would be our chance to let them know. But it turned out that we couldn't do it on Monday because there was no show. There was no show because there was AP testing in the library, which is right next to the TV studio.

There was, however, a show on Tuesday, and I was determined to go on, even though it meant I would have to miss part of a senior class meeting. We all brought our trophies and met Mr. Mumtaz at the door outside the TV Production studio. With him was Mr. Gordon, the principal. He congratulated us on our accomplishment, and then we all sneaked onto the set while they were on the air. It's a bit more cramped than I imagined it to be, but this is not CNN. Mr. Gordon told the camera that these fine students had won 2nd place at the programming competition, and then he had Mr. Mumtaz give our names. And that was that.

We slipped back outside the studio, and Mr. Gordon shook our hands once again. He was a intrigued by our unexpected almost-victory because he hadn't known that the competition existed. We told him how we were presented with problems to solve with computer programming. We also explained that we had to work as a team because the four of us could only use one computer. He was impressed. Later that day, in programming class, we had our photos taken for the yearbook -- my senior yearbook. My future kids are going to see that picture one day and find it amusing.

Today my AP Calculus class culminated with the AP Calculus test, which is what I've basically spent all year studying for. But it goes back further than that: I had already known for a long time that I was going to take calculus in high school, and I rose to the challenge of taking two years' worth of high-school calculus in one year. It all led up to this. And you know what? I think I did well. Some parts actually seemed... easy. I feel as though I was very well prepared, and I have Mr. Gates to thank for that. He had us work rigorously so that we would be very familiar the material. Mr. Gates didn't waste a second teaching us and drilling us. And tomorrow, in true Mr. Gates fashion, we're launching into new topics. I can't wait.

Wikipedia actually tells me some interesting facts about the AP Calculus exams. (There are two: the first level is called "Calculus AB," while the second level is "Calculus BC." I'm in a special AB/BC class, so I learned the material from both exams in one year and took the BC exam.) It turns out that the BC exam has the highest average score out of any AP exam (and there are many). Last year, 41.9% of test-takers got a score of 5, which is the highest possible on a scale of 1 to 5. Also, it seems that the AP Calculus exam has the distinction of being the only AP exam to figure centrally into the plot of a film: Stand and Deliver. What makes that more surprising is that I actually saw that movie and didn't know it was about AP Calculus. What makes that less surprising is that I saw the Spanish-dubbed version in Spanish class three years ago. No hablo español.

Anyway, I find out my score in July. Yeah, July. The free-response portion of the exam is graded by hand, so they actually have math teachers look at dozens of these things and grade them according a strict rubric. You can actually find out your score on July 1 if you want to shell out the money to hear it over the phone, but us working folk have to wait a few weeks to get our scores in the mail. I hope I get a 5.

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