By Sadie York
Some people are lucky enough to say they’ve had their eyes set on a career path since they were little. Most people, meaning, the average teenager, have no clue what they want to do with their lives within the short four-year span of high school. When you really think about it, it’s quite a daunting task—making a choice which could change the trajectory of your life. Of course, students can enter most colleges undeclared, or switch majors once there, but it’s such a process—one which takes much time and effort out of what could be directional years of study. For these reasons, it’s clear that schools should be aiming to encourage their students to explore, rather than specialize. One can argue that the entire selection process of classes presents opportunities for students to explore possible subjects that could turn into careers, however, it’s not realistic. Most students, in an attempt to get into top-end colleges, load their schedule with rigorous coursework, leaving little to no room for exploratory classes. Even if students know what they may want to study in college, it’s difficult to make room for that topic unless already in one of the required courses. Now for students unsure of their passions, the high school class selection process renders even more useless, as there are no opportunities within the educational day to explore possible interests. Yes, high schools have mandated requirements to meet in order to properly prepare students for the next step, but they should consider applying more effort into the exploratory process.
In doing so, the pressures of deciding what seems like the trajectory of your life, will come with much more ease, as choosing a major will be far from foreign with four years of figuring it out. Yes, the decision is a big one which requires self reflection in private time, however, assistance from the education system would increase student’s confidence in future plans. Therefore, in order to promote easier transitions to life-altering decisions, high schools should add an element of exploration within the school course, rather than specialization of topics which may not even render important to students.