Freshman Experience

Freshmen Were Asked: Which Class Have You Found Most Surprising?

Posted March 2nd, 2016

Luke Schooley

When I first arrived at the Prep, I thought my most challenging class would be Latin or Catholic Faith, because I had never taken courses like them at my middle school; however, they surprised me by being my easiest classes. Still, these classes were not as surprising as Honors Biology. I assumed we would be learning about bones and muscles, which is basically memorization, but instead we are learning the cell cycle, mitosis, and DNA replication. These topics completely blindsided my expectations of the class, and it became one of my hardest classes at the Prep. I had never learned any of the subjects we started to cover, and I had to constantly review my notes on the vocabulary and processes happening within our body.

 

Also, the class surprised me grade-wise. At the start of the second half of the first semester, my teacher told our class that his class was going to get harder. At the time, I had a 100 in the class and figured that I was going to be able to glide through the rest of the semester with an “A+”. To my surprise, the class rapidly increased in difficulty and workload. I was not prepared for these changes, and soon I was hanging on for an “A.” The class still continues to challenge me, and it still surprises me to this day that at one point I had a 100 and thought it was the easiest class I could have.

Michael DeLong

I have been surprised just being at the Prep.  The friends I have made, the brotherhood, the athletics, and the food have all come to be some of my favorite parts of being here.  I have been surprised in many ways.  The amount I am learning is a surprise to me compared to last year at my old school.  The class that has not so much surprised as shocked me, is honors biology.  This class has shocked me in the amount of information that we have to take in at once.  We don’t just cover the basics of the particular aspect of science that we are learning, we go in depth.  Going in depth has confused me and shocked me at the same time, but in spite of that, the class that has surprised me the most is computer coding.

Even though I have been taking computer coding for only a half semester, this class has come to be the most surprising class I have taken yet.  I feel this class is the most surprising because it has something to offer that I had never thought of before. Right now in computer coding, we are learning binary code.  I have heard of binary code before, but I never knew what it meant.  My coding teacher has become one of my favorite teachers.  I feel as though she adds an element of fun into my learning, just like my English teacher.  The amount of things that I have learned so far has already surprised me.  By the end of the year, we will be able to code for a website from scratch.  My computer coding class has been the class that has surprised me the most.

Matt Bernard

The most surprising class at the Prep for me this year has been Arabic class. This class has exposed me to a new language and culture, with a teacher who has been helpful and interesting. I have been shocked at the progress I have made and at how well I am doing in this class. On the first day I thought it was going to be much harder, but so far I have not had much difficulty. The class will get harder as we go on; however, I enjoy this class so much that I am willing to do the extra work for it.

I am enjoying learning Arabic much more than I ever thought I would. This enjoyment of learning the language is what helps, because I believe if I did not like it, it would be much harder to learn. I have also been exposed to the culture through this class. The Arabic club had a trip to an Arabic restaurant. While at the restaurant, I tried many different kinds of food. To my surprise, I liked almost all of it. The amount of fun I have had during this class has made it my most surprising class.