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By Zoe Hsu
The class of 2020 was the first to take a new, obligatory semester course called College and Career Seminar, a class that is, as stated in the school’s curriculum book, “designed to empower students to become self-advocates in their college and career planning process”.
However, many students, including myself, disliked the class, because the majority of the material and lessons in the curriculum was irrelevant for freshmen.
In the beginning, I was eager to take the class, because I thought it would help give me a better understanding of the college application process and give me an idea of what my future occupation may be.
As the semester progressed, I realized this class was completely useless for freshman.
I could not fathom the reason for making a 10-Year Plan, participating in a mock job interview and completing worksheets on finance and marriage when I was only beginning high school.
However, some students found the material beneficial and appreciated the lessons on future responsibilities.
“I liked the class because I definitely think it helps with life after college,” Sophomore Alexandra Bershtein said. “It benefitted me because without the class, I probably would have no idea how to pay mortgage, know what a down payment was and the different kinds of health insuance.”
As mentioned earlier, one of the course’s objectives is to assist students in college preparation. However, the only college related lesson I remember was learning the difference in tuition and cost between a community college and a private university.
While some argue freshmen are in dire need of college and career guidance, I would argue the College andCareer Center and helpful websites such as Naviance do an outstanding job of preparing students for higher education.
While this class is supposed to prepare students for life beyond high school, it actually delayed students in taking the A-G classes required to admittance to UCs. As a result, some of this year’s freshmen paid a couple million dollars to take the course during the summer to make room for college approved courses on their schedule.
The main objective for freshmen is to adapt to high school and discover what colleges interest them, not worrying about how many kids they will have or how much insurance will cost.
Seminar should be banned from the school curriculum or it should be an optional course because although it may help particular students, there are some students who feel they already have enough help plnning for their future.