2025- Abdul Muhaimin-Week 16

 This year might have been the most memorable bout of time in my recent history; even after excluding the mind bending outwardly world events, this year was still filled with the highest highs and lowest lows of my life. This blog seems like a farewell letter, partly because this is, after the end of this year I am leaving American High to join Ohlone Connections. It seems strange how I will not be seeing the wonderful friends I made during APeng, and largely in American High. So as we close this year I ask you to think about some of the memorable parts of this year, some lenses tell a more interesting tale.


One lens to view the year through, could be the “WAR AGAINST COLLEGE BOARD.” It started with a training montage where we met are lieutenant, Mrs. Smith,  and as the year progresses so did our skills. Who doesn’t remember the sleepless nights spent doing annotations, or mental connections forged through rhetorical analysis. In the middle of this epic we face off against our greatest challenge (POAS), where we were grilled more than we have ever been. And right now we stand just before the final moments, the moments which are often not shown, as we contemplate if we are ready for the final battle. For some of my other comrades, their only battle is on the 14th, while for me, I have already fought two and many more remain.

The other lens could be the tale of resilience and perseverance, or infinitely many more. The finite amount of changes that you have gone through, and the infinitely many more you could have gone. It is a reminder of the slow but menacing march of time, dragging you closer to your death while you are helpless to stop it. Instead, it could be the reminder to cherish the jubilant faces you shared a smile, or a “complaint session” with. The fact of the matter is the past is what you think it is, the best day of your life, is the day you choose to live it.

Comments

  1. Yumi LiuMay 16, 2025 at 12:04 PM

    Hi Abdul! Your blog made me feel so seen! This year was definitely one of the few years where there were so many ups and downs!Even though I barely had any AP classes signed up this year, the workload was definitely still there. It was really fun during the school, as me and my friends were studying together and trying to get through the apeng homework. Nevertheless, there were a lot of lows as well, such as what you have mentioned– the sleepless nights where we stayed up doing apeng homework. I think the most memorable part from this year was the day before the POAS research paper was due and I had to type from afterschool till 10pm, non stop. I was confident I had only 2 hours of work left that day, but unfortunately I was just underestimating how much work POAS really is.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ananya BhardwajMay 21, 2025 at 9:22 PM

    Hi Abdul! This year definitely had some of the highest highs and lowest lows—your analogy of junior year to a battle feels accurate. Fortunately, we’ve all made it through this year! I get the sense that all of us have also become new people—not that we’ve abandoned our old personalities and principles, but that we’ve all matured.

    I fully agree with your final statement that the best days of your life are the ones where you choose to live rather than just survive; the days where you take the time to look at the sky and take in the weather, the days where you get to define yourself past the pressure put on you, the days where you get to find yourself.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ruhika, Week 16 - Memories Bring Back, Memories Bring Back You

Image
As this is the last blog I will ever write, I wanted to share one memory I will remember with all of the people in my class. AP Lang was a rollercoaster of a class… the amount of stress it caused me is immeasurable. However, I am so grateful that I got this experience since I think this class is the one which has the most tightly connected community. Suhas Bathini: I will not forget how terrible of a dancer you are. I am glad that the Gartic telephone allowed me to become friends with you. Ananya Bhardwaj: Your Michael Jackson impression is amazing. I will need a full length cover. Yuhaendan Bhaskaran: You are a bad mafia, letting your hands give you away.  James Chan: Your stage presence is amazing, which was evident in your POAS. I have had the pleasure of having English with you twice and getting to witness incredible performances more than twice. Devyani Choudhury: You whispering under your breath, “[A 3] is not the same to me,” will always make me giggle. Ritwik Deshpande: I a...
Read more

Michelle Li, 3/19 Week 13 - Person of American Significance

Image
David Koresh, my Person of American Significance. Image source: Financial Times You might have noticed my face turning a little red after my POAS presentation this Monday; I was embarrassed. I genuinely thought my performance was awkward and that my memory lapses were too obvious. But my tablemates and friends quickly reassured me that I did well, which I was grateful for, but didn’t truly believe. I think it’s because I don’t notice how I deliver my speeches. When I’m presenting, I switch into a different mindset where I cut out filler words, enunciate things for emphasis, and use hand gestures. It happens near automatically now through a phenomenon called implicit memory ---a type of long-term memory that causes us to unconsciously recall behavior or skills, typically through repeating these habits in the past. Since delivery has become second nature, I only focus on the content of what I’m speaking about—which I’ll admit was lackluster and cut out important information I wanted to ...
Read more