One aspect of this school that has impressed me the most is its seemingly endless selection of courses. When I was exposed to these options as a rising freshman, the freedom to choose overwhelmed me, and I’m sure many of my classmates felt the same. 

As a senior now, I feel incredibly privileged to have attended a school like this with so many different courses to explore. This school offers a large number of unique classes ranging from Classical Literature to Multivariable Calculus and so much more that some schools don’t offer. The option to choose among a growing multitude of courses is definitely something I take for granted at this school, and taking full advantage of this is something every student should do.

For me, the option to heavily diversify my course load allowed me to quickly uncover my interests. Enrolling in classes like band and physics during my underclassmen years didn’t excite me like how some of my other classes did, so I dropped them the next year and moved on. As I took more classes, I’d piece together what I enjoyed and excelled in, and eventually, I found a match. During sophomore year, engineering and computer science classes offered at this school piqued my interest when they fully introduced me to the world of programming and the freedom to create whatever I wanted. The following year, more of my classes and activities reflected that interest because I found something I was able to enjoy and wanted to pursue in college.

Solidifying my interests in high school also probably saved me thousands of dollars. College books and classes can be absurdly expensive, so choosing a different major at that stage would’ve been much more of a financial burden than simply dropping a class during high school. Fortunately, the courses at this school can gauge many possible interests. In fact, course options at this school continue to branch out into different fields of study. For instance, classes like Cybersecurity, Ethnic Literature, and Aerospace Engineering were all added in the past two years.

Even with this school’s compulsory classes, those courses often come with different levels most students can take. Although it may be tempting to choose whichever course fulfills the requirement, introducing yourself to honors, IB or AP versions of those classes can cultivate valuable life skills, offer college credit, and look great on your college application if you’re willing to put in the work.

As course selection opens this fall, by all means, choose whichever classes you want. But keep in mind that choosing a diversified set of unfamiliar classes at this school could introduce you to something you want to do for the rest of your life. Whether that means taking AP Studio Art or Civil Engineering, I say go for it. Taking advantage of this school’s diverse selection of courses facilitated my path of finding what I love. I encourage you to do the same.

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