On Jan. 5, Independence High School held its annual elective fair in which students get to pick three classes they want to get to know better and eventually choose as one of their electives for the upcoming school year. 

Those courses vary from Fine Arts to Health and PE, and while primarily being seen as a chance to learn something new, they also come with varied reasons as to why or why not students might want to choose a specific elective. 

For instance, most of the people interviewed have admitted excluding some Advanced Placement classes to maintain a balance between the classes they already planned to take. 

“For AP Human Geo, I think it seems really interesting, but I am not sure if I want to add another AP because I am already taking a lot,” junior Sophia Robbins said. “I might go with mythology because it also seems interesting and fun and something I would like to take, so I will probably end up doing that,” she added. 

In effect, another main reason as to why an elective might be chosen is a student’s interest in it and their willingness to follow their passion. “I want to take AP psych because I would love to pursue a career in psychology,” junior Sofia Lyons commented. 

For that same reason, junior Sharanya Maddukuri said she would take International Relations and Global Studies because that’s what [she] “wants to do in college, and it seems like a fun class.”

Finally, a last motivation for students to pick a course is trying something new; after all, an elective is also an opportunity to introduce yourself to an entirely new subject and expand your horizons. For this reason, Lyons also said she is “choosing yoga because [she] would love to work on being more flexible and give [herself] some blood flow.” 

Since they are classes outside the required curriculum, electives are an ideal way to challenge yourself and stay motivated throughout high school. They are also a way to make yourself stand out when applying for college. To ensure you’re choosing the right elective classes, interviewed students, Sofia and Sharanya, would recommend “exploring your interest” and “talking with your friends, or people taking the classes you are interested in, or your school counselor.” 

You can also use this website to take a look at the electives you can take at Independence : https://sites.google.com/lcps.org/independence-electives/