By Madi Zanardelli
As a senior, my time at Wesmont is winding down, and I have less than a month left of highschool. Though I know I will go on to college and take numerous courses—fulfilling not only academic requirements, but also personal interests—I can’t help but look back at my course load and wish I’d learned more. It’s not to say that Westmont didn’t do its job; It offered many advanced classes and specialized programs other schools in our area lack. Yet, there are some courses I feel would have benefited me, and many other students, greatly over our four years. Here are some of the classes I’d like to take.
Science Honors:
Westmont does offer 5 Advanced Placement science classes, but no honors level courses. I know personally I’d be highly motivated to take an AP science class after taking an honors one first. As on level was the only option, I felt ill prepared to jump into an advanced course with little gauge of how I’d fare in that subject. I believe adding honors science classes would boost AP enrollment, helping students prepare for college.
Nutrition/Cooking:
In seventh grade we had a nutrition unit for one month, and that was the last time someone ever talked to me about it. Eating healthy is crucial and affects your everyday life, especially with athletes. I have participated in a couple sports at Westmont, and talked with many of my teammates about the right thing to eat or the right portion and many of us feel lost on the specifics. We know pasta and salad are good to eat before a competition, but ask us the right amount, and what else you need for a balanced diet and you’ll be met with an “umm” or “I don’t know.”A cooking class, with a focus on nutrition would be so beneficial not only for athletes, but any student as it would help prepare you for living on your own. This could be broken up into semesters, with one half focused on nutrition and the other on applying the knowledge through cooking. To me, and many other driven athletes, this would be much more practical than running a 6 in 16.
Movie analytics:
Throughout high school I thought second semester senior year would be compiled of watching movies and analyzing them to match the specific class. Don’t ask me why I thought that, I have no clue. But it did make me think that would be a fantastic elective for seniors. Watching classic or modern movies, and then analyzing their connections to literature and history, or their character name, costume and origin choices, would hands down be the most motivating and engaging essay prompt.