The dreaded question for a high school upperclassman, “What are your plans after graduation, what are you going to major in?” The reality is that most don’t have an answer. High school is supposed to introduce possible career pathways, yet that isn’t always the case. Hall students aren’t taking advantage of the great electives that are offered; some say it’s due to unawareness or lack of room in their schedules, nevertheless they’re missing opportunities that provide valuable life skills.

Commonly underclassmen aren’t presented to the many electives at Hall High School offers. Freshman, Caroline Burcari, states, “Picking the right one is hard”. Caroline knows only of a few of the helpful electives that are offered here at Hall. She wishes that there were more room in her schedule to be able to take more classes. This shows how freshman and sophomores don’t know many of the electives, even if they know a few of them they can’t fit the electives into their tight schedules.

At Hall High School the class selection process is flawed. Teachers and counselors try their best to correctly inform students of what’s offered, but it really isn’t enough. Most students fill up their schedule with academics, and many don’t realize the array of electives that Hall offers. The Program of Studies can be found on the school website. There are many classes that students aren’t aware of including, Engineering and Architectural Design, American Sign Language, and more.

When talking with the Engineering and Architectural Design teacher, Mr. Fortuna, he stated, “Yes, AP classes are great but it’s also good to know what you want to do for a career and explore those options here at high school when you’re young.” This is very important to keep in mind since, no matter what grade you’re in, college is right around the corner. Taking classes in high school that you’re interested in, is the perfect way to explore possible careers before college. Mr. Fortuna’s classes, in particular, is one that students should taking, if they’re hoping to be part of an engineering field. Mr. Fortuna gave an example of how a student of his never knew about the engineering classes, yet was going to college for engineering.

After getting a teacher’s point of view, the next step was to get a student’s perspective. The main focus of the interview was to both give people a chance to express their love for a course while on the other hand, looking into the level of unawareness of various courses.

Susannah Major, a senior at Hall High School, expressed her love for American Sign Language, which she takes with Ms. Colbert. She states, “Everyone knows about French and Spanish here, but what can you do with that later? Sure, if you go abroad it’ll be helpful, but this class is beneficial in a different way.” An example Susannah gave was, having a short conversation with a deaf peer in the hallway or assisting a stranger the store — “It’s the little things like that, that make them and yourself feel good.” Communication is something that is so simple yet very important.

Looking at Farmington High Schools Program of studies, they offer an Engineering Design and Development class, the only concern is the fact that it was only offered to juniors and seniors. Although this is beneficial to students who are set on going into engineering, there are students who might not have the time in their schedule. After finding this information, it was clear that Farmington and Hall High School are having similar issues in course selection. It can now be inferred that other high school’s need to do a better job of showcasing electives that provide life skills.