Dearest New Student,
	Get out while you still can, man. Unless you WANT to have fun in an AP class, which, let's be honest, is kind of ridiculous, right? No? Well, your choice, I suppose. Anyways, welcome to Mr. Cole's Mongolian AP World History Extravaganza! It's honestly not all that bad, despite what people might tell you. Mr. Cole is actually pretty cool for a teacher, and it's a pretty loose environment. Lots of discussion and lecture, as opposed to written work. It's a thinking class for sure.
	That said, while it's loose, you do need to do some things. When he tells you to read the chapter in the book, you should probably read it. It's really not a huge chore once you get into the flow of the chapter. Otherwise, you'll miss out on some important stuff, and you won't completely get a lot of the discussion. Also, be active in the discussions! Don't be afraid to ask questions or propose some of your own ideas. You learn far more from a mistake than from a success. The worst that can happen is that you learn something new. And that's not as much of a pain as you think it is. Also, if you have a hard time learning or remembering things from a lecture or discussion, take notes on what you think you need to be remembering, and he'll usually tell you what that is; but if you can remember fine, just don't bother taking notes. It'll just distract you.
	Something else you should make sure of is that you DO THE BLOGS. You have to do them every six weeks, and most people just end up putting it off until the last minute, but then you kind of rush it. Just do one at a time over the course of the six weeks, it's not a huge chore. I still haven't done my last set, and it's due in four days. Don't make our mistakes, man! Another thing that I probably could have done better with is the timed writings and essays. He grades on the AP scale, so a 5 is a good number, even though it translates to a 70-something. So do the best you can on them, and be prepared. It will pay off in spades when you take the AP exam. Also, just get your PERSIAN charts done and over with. They can be a pain, yeah, but it's better to just do it. If it helps, do it while you read the chapter. And they do help with tests.
	One last thing, and you can throw this away. The AP Exam is NOT as scary/bad/hard/demonic as people make it out to be. You DO need to prepare for it, and it IS important, but it is probably not going to murder you and dump you somewhere where they'll never find you. Take it seriously, but don't freak out. The freaking out is more dangerous than the test. And you should take the test; It will pay off when you save multiple thousands on college tuition.

	Good luck learning about the world,
		Callum Roberts,