High school. The awkward buffer between childhood and adulthood, characterized as the time of finding yourself and your place in the world. As the years count down and college lurks just around the corner, it’s a common experience for students to frantically select classes and clubs that tailor to their interests and future pursuits–or do they really? With the constant stress of student merit and academic records, it’s difficult for students to select classes based solely on their interests rather than what favors their GPA. Here are some of PPCHS’s opinions on college readiness:

Question: Do you think that the classes and electives you’re taking now prepare you for your future? 

“Yes. I want to be an engineer, and math and science are all classes that definitely prepare me for that. I think everyone here is given the opportunity to prepare for the future, but not everyone takes it.” -Sophomore Dylan Capiro

“I didn’t really choose my electives based on that [preparation]. I picked my electives mainly for fun, and to boost my GPA.” -Junior Emily Ramjattan

“Yes. The majority of my classes and electives are science-based, which is appropriate given that I want to work in the medical field. These classes get me prepared for the type of content I will see in the future.” -Junior Hana Bushra

“Not really, honestly. I feel like everything we do is kind of lower level than what actually happens. It’s all about getting the AP tests done. All the “high-level” electives are more focused on preparing you for the exam, rather than preparing you for the actual field you plan on going into. So, I feel like electives are more exam-based or hobbies. For example, a lot of the time, art electives are just classes you take to fill your requirements. Unless you’re taking AP art, or it’s something you’re passionate about–but in that case, it’s still just preparing for the exam.” -Senior Miguel Beane

“I think the only class that prepares me for the future is the Data and Financial Literacy class, because they teach you about loans, interest rates, etc.” -Sophomore Benjamin Nguyen

“Yes, some of them. They’re the most challenging courses I can actually take, as of now, for the future. They’re courses that challenge me. It gets me used to what harder college course loads are like in the future.” -Senior Daniel Zambrano

“Not really. I feel like considering we’re a college preparatory school, we don’t really have many programs to prepare us for a specific field. For example, there’s not really many classes that focus on nursing, or something like that. There’s HOSA, but it’s a club. There are more clubs that are specialized, rather than classes.” -Sophomore Lorelei Santos