It was only four years ago I was prepared to enter Brown Middle School in Hillsboro, filling out my forecasting sheet online in the midst of the pandemic. The elective options were pretty bland: theater, choir, band, art, leadership, Spanish and very little else. But I moved to Tigard-Tualatin School District in the summer, and instead, got to pick from Twality Middle School’s wide array of electives.
Now I’m here at Tualatin, with even more classes to choose from and difficult decisions to make every year. Those decisions matter. While some electives may be easier than core classes, it matters which ones you take.
Fulfilling graduation requirements is the first necessity when it comes to electives, though one of the biggest benefits of electives is the potential to strengthen your college applications. According to an article published by BigFuture, an online planning guide for students, earning good grades in high-level foreign language classes or delving into majors you’re considering are fantastic ways to make your transcript stand out. Electives can also help prepare you for life ahead.
“That problem solving, that’s real world,” construction teacher Justin Burch said. “You have to, most of the time in a real-world job, be able to think independently. I think in this class, you have to be willing to make a mistake and learn from it, fix it and move on. Understanding that process in life is a huge advantage.”
Construction is just one of the numerous electives offered here. It’s an elective dedicating time to projects that can help the community in very real ways, and there are other electives with similar goals in mind. At TuHS, students have the option to be a part of classes that have an impact; the things you learn in electives can be incredibly useful.
According to sophomore Keziah Ocholi, this is the case with the accounting series.
“You get to see examples of other people’s spending habits, and you learn what not to do and what you should do. It also helps you have a better understanding of how money management works,” she said.
Some students don’t take electives they’re truly interested in, opting for classes they feel might be “easy A’s.” Some don’t care much at all what classes they get put in, choosing electives at random, often amid the frantic scramble of schedule changes.
The more time I spend in the school district, the more I keep thinking about how nice it is to have so many elective classes that pique my interest, especially when my older siblings, graduates from another school district, didn’t. Elective classes provide opportunities to pursue passions, learn relevant information and prepare for college. There’s a lot to take advantage of. The ones at Tualatin are some of the best.
