High school: the place that is supposed to guide students into the rest of their lives and teach a range of life skills. When entering high school, many students enroll in a pathway hoping to be led into the career path of their choice. UC High offers a number of pathways including BioMed, Engineering, Child Development and Computer Science. UC High’s pathways seem to mainly fall into the engineering and the medical fields, with little offerings in the arts and humanities. Sure, there are AP and other weighted courses available, but it would be nice to have some pathways for these students to satisfy their interests, as well as graduation requirements, and help prepare them for their college majors and career choices.
If schools like UC High included pathways for students interested in the arts and humanities; for example design, business or film; and other career paths like law or business, it would improve the existing program while allowing striving teens to be increasingly prepared for college. It would also look good on college applications, maybe giving students the upper hand when applying for a particular major.
If UC High were to include a wider variety of career pathways, taking inspiration from some of its neighboring schools, students would find increased success across the board. Along with science pathways, schools like Kearny Mesa High provide opportunities within business. digital media, and design. Likewise, according to the San Diego Unified School District website, San Diego High and Mission Bay have a world of IB classes which set them up substantially better for their college career path (sandiegounified.org).
Junior Katy Schoenknecht wants to study criminology when she is older, but at UC High there is limited exploration for said career. Schoenknecht said, “It would make high school a better preparation if there were more classes and career pathways into more fields. School would pique my interest more if I could study more of what I plan to do when I’m older.” Many students could be more successful with the opportunity to study for multiple years in the field of their choice.
It’s important for students to explore their interests in high school – this way they can make sure that their chosen career is a good fit. They need to do it before they head to a University, especially with the costs of colleges being so high. There may also be students who don’t know if they even want to go to college, but a high school pathway would give them the chance to at least learn in depth about a particular field. Community College courses and AP classes offer students some insight. But there are very few courses in the arts (like band, theater and video production) that offer weighted credit.
If UC High were to include pathways for careers like law, business, and theater/design, it would mean more students would be engaged in the curriculum and prepared for college and careers. This might even increase attendance rates, which means the school gets more money. Students would also feel less anxiety when choosing a college major, because they would have experience in their chosen field. High school is meant to prepare you for life and should be more career-centered when it comes to fulfilling graduation requirements.