I’m not going to offer any sweeping senior advice about how to be the best you can be in high school, nor will I offer the secrets of life or the meaning of the universe.

Instead, in light of the many changes in Roseville High School’s curricular dynamic that occured this year, I will give what advice I can on taking community college classes:
Take them.

As you may already know, this year, our district terminated weighted credit for classes taken at community colleges. Sure, you can still take them to meet graduation requirements, but why would you?

The problem lies with students’ ignorance about the courses offered and the ease of taking them; and while some consider taking them later in their high school career, most never do. The variety of courses I could even imagine taking were social studies classes like Intro. Sociology, to be taken for a GPA boost or fulfill college general education requirements (terrible reasons to take a class – I know). The classes sounded boring to me. I never even took the time to just explore the Sierra College Course Catalog until my junior year; and when I finally did, I started kicking myself.
You can take anything from art to fashion, astronomy, foreign languages, calculus and everything in between. I, for instance, always wanted to take AP Art History in high school, but never had room in my schedule, so I took an online class on the history of Western art from the Renaissance to Realism this semester. Though I took this class along with two other Sierra classes this year without earning any high school credit, I found them especially rewarding and fun, since I could learn about topics in which I was interested on my own account, for free, and without worrying so much about a grade.

Most of the courses offered to high schoolers can be taken online, making courses during the school year far more doable, allowing even underclassmen can take a community college course. And though students without internet access may find taking a community college course a bit trickier at the moment, the incoming One to One program will put a chromebook in every student’s hands, giving everyone the opportunity to extend their education beyond our campus.

I will say: if you can, don’t swap RHS courses for community college courses – your high school teachers will pay far more attention to you; and if you’re like the many students who choose to swap AP U.S. History with the Sierra equivalent, you’ll miss out on Mrs. Fork’s impassioned history lectures (which are awesome).