High school is not like what you might think after watching High School Musical as a kid. Many students might find school to very stressful and hard.  The only thing that keeps them going is knowing that what they will be learning will affect their future career and living.

Elective courses are the chance for students to try classes that interest them and maybe decide to pursue it as a career. These few courses in a students schedule are completely their choice unlike core classes: English, math, science, and history. Seeing as many young students also tend to be indecisive, this process should begin as soon as possible seeing as there are many different fields they could choose from. 

According to surveys done by Edsource, “about 46 percent said schools have helped them figure out which careers match their interests and abilities”. There is a whopping 54 percent of people whose school systems did not help.

At Carlisle High School, many of the elective courses have grade requirements. This creates an issue for underclassmen when searching for electives to take their first two years of high school. If the requirements are changed, students could take more classes that would help them narrow down their focus.

As a freshman, Kiley Barnhart (now a sophomore) wanted to take the medical classes available at CHS. The 2018 Educational Planning Guide reveals that the Health Academy has about 6 programs/classes available, but none of them can be taken until junior year.

The classes open to underclassmen do not cover as many career fields so students take classes they have no interest pursuing.

“I was frustrated when picking my courses freshman year because nothing appealed to me,” Barnhart said. “I know I want to go into the medical field but no classes were open to 9th graders. I resorted to taking Foods and Baking because I needed to fill that spot, but it was of no help to my career at all.”

To some students, electives seem to be a waste of precious experimental years because they aren’t interested in them. Electives are required or the credits needed to graduate will not be met. The fact that all the electives are not open to all students makes it harder to apply talents to real-world scenarios. These years are when students have to look deep inside of themselves to make a good decision for their future. 

The Sterling Academy Staff said, “Taking a wide variety of elective courses helps you get a feel for how different fields approach things like problem-solving and see where you can put your personal interests and aptitudes to work.” 

Electives are a student’s chance to try out different fields and determine a career. The restrictions to take certain electives are not fair to students who have decided what path they want to take as well as those who still need to narrow it down. The main focus of school is to learn and then apply the knowledge in a useful way. Restrictions are keeping students from living their best life with a career they enjoy.

Disclaimer: Articles designated as “Editorial” represent the views and opinions of the author, not the 2018-2019 Periscope staff, CHS/CASD administration, or the CHS student body.