“I taught AP Language for three to four years, and students were asking me about their core selections, what they should take, and the rigor that they should build in their 11th grade year. One of the things I said was that you really don’t want to sell yourself short because you know yourself best; like Shakespeare said, “To thine own self be true.” I can’t be there with you to do the work because you have to make sure to have the right perspective and attitude going into all these AP courses. One young lady had five AP classes on her schedule and her inclination was really the math and the sciences but she was so willing to get that rigor that universities are looking for. But I said, ‘Listen, when I taught AP the sun rose and set with me.’ I was pretty selfish because I taught AP Language and I expected a lot from my students, and if you were to look at the other teachers that also teach AP classes, they have that same selfishness.”