"Every parent dreams that their kids do better than them." My Dad told me something like that a couple of years ago. I don't think about it that often, but as I'm nearing the end of my undergraduate studies and coming into more responsibility, I find the conversation where he told that to me coming into mind. For the past 3 years, my parents have graciously paid the bulk of my college costs. Tuition, along with room and board, has been paid for by my hard-working parents. Let me be absolutely clear, however. I earned my keep in school. For one, I refused to let them pay for my books (they didn't offer anyway)! That counts right? This upcoming Fall semester, I will be commuting to and from school for the first time. After 3 good years of meeting new dormmates, making new friends, and enjoying the convenience and simplicity of taking 5-10 minute walks to class, I will now be taking the 25-minute drive back and forth. What could go wrong? As covered: The drive? 25 minutes. Not bad at all. A pretty quick commute. Yet to be covered: The age of the vehicle? Assets to cover any damage the vehicle endures? Let us get started. The car in question is a 2007 Honda Pilot. Before me, it belonged to my mother. It served her well for most of my existence (14 years by the time I started driving it) and hopefully, it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. If I'm honest, I think it's a little shaky. Recently, it got an oil change, so I'm happy about that. Whenever she needs to take my car for a drive, she often complains about the time it takes for the car to stop after breaking. When you press on the brake, the car doesn't immiedietly stop, you have to ease into it. On her new Toyota 4Runner, it's almost jarring how fast the car stops. I've gotten quite used to it, and have found a sweet spot for breaking. It takes 3 full seconds for the car to come to a complete stop after pressing the break? Nothing could go wrong! When it comes to assets for coverage on the Pilot, I'm covered as I'm under 25 and still on my parent's insurance. I'm grateful for that. Out of pocket though? Completely on my end? Unfortunately, I'm SOL. My Dad drove his '07 Camry for around 15 years, it had it's set of problems too. He pulled through. Whatever happens, I'll figure it out. I mean, what's the alternative? As you've come to know by now, I am in a very fortunate position in that I am still supported by my parents at age 21. Now more than ever though, I am becoming more aware of the necessity to take on more responsibility. Partly as a result of wanting to become more independent and "push my own key" as my Mom would put it, partly because the American social clock for people around my age demands that I do so by now. The first step is graduating from college. I'll be the first in my family to do that. I can't stop there though. I've heard many times how hard my parents had to struggle in order for me to even consider writing this piece. Who am I to fail them?

I never set out to be a psychologist, and I never thought taking AP classes would be so important in my life. I remember in my junior year of high school, before the virus hit, my teacher asking me if I wanted to take AP. I knew I was capable, but at the time I wasn't sure I had the drive. I like to call myself an average student because I was never super ambitious. I just got my work done, studied, and that was that. I wasn't sure, but my teacher said she needed an answer soon. It was the next day. It was about the 4th period of the day, and we had 3 more periods left. So as I went from class to class each period, I mulled over taking this course. Looking from the outside, it shouldn't be such a hard decision. Take note of what kind of student you are. Do some research on the difficulty of the class. Ask fellow students about the class. Make your decision. And I did follow this formulaic idea about how I was supposed to go about taking this class. I took all these factors into consideration and eventually came to the consensus that I wanted to take the class, and you know MAYBE the class would be interesting. Once I started the course the following semester, little did I know that it would introduce me to a subject that would sharpen my personal and academic goals in ways I didn't anticipate. In AP Psych, there is a high emphasis places upon good notes and studying. While this is true of any AP Class, the textbook being used was very detailed and wordy, so one really needs to pay attention in order to understand key concepts. It was this attention to detail enforced upon me by the rigor of the course that enabled me to pay closer attention to the text I was reading. As my class and I continued to delve deeper into the history and beginnings of psychology, my interest in the subject gradually became deeper, and I took it upon myself to learn even more and read far ahead of what our class was learning at the time. In my own personal reading, aside from Psych, I noticed details within novels I had never noticed before thanks to the advanced annotation strategy I learned. And it wasn't just AP Psych that placed me on the path to success. It was also my use of various resources such as YouTube and other sites that offer videos and transcripts of note taking skills and high productivity skills to implement not just in school, but everywhere knowledge needs to be learned quickly, from the grocery store to the library. I am simply grateful that I got the opportunity to push myself harder in school than I ever have before thanks to this course and the valuable knowledge I gained from it. I never would have considered entering the field of psychology when going off to college if I hadn't taken the course. Now, I know what path I want to take and I have been taught valuable lessons in hard work and perserverence. Now, I have developed many of the skills I will need to succeed in college, and hopefully become a top psychologist after completing my PhD. I developed drive that truly manifested greater now than ever before, and that I believe will continue to live as I enter college in the coming months.