50p
The Sweaty Bunch
“194 optional essays. 65 challengers. 25 kids in the club. 1 tired teacher” observed Mr Collis.
These were the sums of this year’s iteration of Mr Collis’ “Wall of Sweat” challenge, a tradition familiar to many veterans of AP English 11, and now, the current footsoldiers as well.
The details of this sweaty quest are these: students planning to write the AP Language and Composition exam had to write at least five optional practice essays before the exam day on May 20th, 2020. Now, it’s already difficult to get teenagers to do mandatory work; imagine the perplexity of having them submit optional assignments. But students are incentivized with the ultimate prize - immortality.
To be clear, qualifying students are immortalized in the form of room decor, with photos depicting their sweatiness hung on the busy walls of Mr Collis’ classroom for eternity. As one might assume, this prize was fiercely sought after and great feats of grit were demonstrated by this year’s mighty, sweaty challengers.
An impressive 55 students wrote at least one optional essay; 25 were able to submit five or more. The first past the sweaty post was Roisin B, Allard ’21. Our sweatiest qualifier was Annika M, Alex ’21, with a staggering ten under her belt, followed by Roisin and Zosia S, Hope ’21. Way to show ’em, girls!
Despite the hindrances of remote learning, time zones, and easily accessible laziness, this year’s AP English Language students produced 194 essays - a record-breaking number. Every one of the 25 qualifiers will now live as legends. Some might call these kids nerds - and they’d be right - but there’s a stronger message in these statistics. Finding themselves in this strange, pandemic-induced environment of overwhelming independence, one where these students no longer have the same degree of direct support - or consequence - that Brentwood regularly offers, they still opted to take this road less travelled. They consciously chose to be proactive and to participate.
The choices they made, during this hardship, truly show who they are. I once read in an AP Lang essay prompt, James Lane Allen wrote “adversity does not build character, it reveals it.” This idea has lingered in since the first time I read it - while completing my own five sweaty essays. Whether you are a student, a teacher, a parent, a politician, or anything, our actions now are raw reflections of our character. The Wall of Sweat is one example of many that reveals those with such gritty character - both on the students’ and the teacher’s part. I cannot amply express how thankful I am that we are part of a community that values this.
I hope everyone’s AP exams went well. We have come out on the other side of this exam season, this school year, and this pandemic, It is now a question of if we will have taken the opportunity to better understand our own and others’ character.
Jayden J, Hope ‘20
These were the sums of this year’s iteration of Mr Collis’ “Wall of Sweat” challenge, a tradition familiar to many veterans of AP English 11, and now, the current footsoldiers as well.
The details of this sweaty quest are these: students planning to write the AP Language and Composition exam had to write at least five optional practice essays before the exam day on May 20th, 2020. Now, it’s already difficult to get teenagers to do mandatory work; imagine the perplexity of having them submit optional assignments. But students are incentivized with the ultimate prize - immortality.
To be clear, qualifying students are immortalized in the form of room decor, with photos depicting their sweatiness hung on the busy walls of Mr Collis’ classroom for eternity. As one might assume, this prize was fiercely sought after and great feats of grit were demonstrated by this year’s mighty, sweaty challengers.
An impressive 55 students wrote at least one optional essay; 25 were able to submit five or more. The first past the sweaty post was Roisin B, Allard ’21. Our sweatiest qualifier was Annika M, Alex ’21, with a staggering ten under her belt, followed by Roisin and Zosia S, Hope ’21. Way to show ’em, girls!
Despite the hindrances of remote learning, time zones, and easily accessible laziness, this year’s AP English Language students produced 194 essays - a record-breaking number. Every one of the 25 qualifiers will now live as legends. Some might call these kids nerds - and they’d be right - but there’s a stronger message in these statistics. Finding themselves in this strange, pandemic-induced environment of overwhelming independence, one where these students no longer have the same degree of direct support - or consequence - that Brentwood regularly offers, they still opted to take this road less travelled. They consciously chose to be proactive and to participate.
The choices they made, during this hardship, truly show who they are. I once read in an AP Lang essay prompt, James Lane Allen wrote “adversity does not build character, it reveals it.” This idea has lingered in since the first time I read it - while completing my own five sweaty essays. Whether you are a student, a teacher, a parent, a politician, or anything, our actions now are raw reflections of our character. The Wall of Sweat is one example of many that reveals those with such gritty character - both on the students’ and the teacher’s part. I cannot amply express how thankful I am that we are part of a community that values this.
I hope everyone’s AP exams went well. We have come out on the other side of this exam season, this school year, and this pandemic, It is now a question of if we will have taken the opportunity to better understand our own and others’ character.
Jayden J, Hope ‘20