High school is four years of stress, happiness, and cramming in those late-night hours of studying.  You meet with your counselors at the end of every year in order to find those perfect classes for the next year.

Before you know it, you’ll be picking your major.   Picking classes in high school to better your education and benefit you in the long run is very important.  Maybe you want to have an art major, so all four years of high school you choose to have art classes. But it’s not so easy.

Some students might think that the graduation requirements are preventing them from the  classes they want to take.  In the end, they might want to take some of the classes that apply to their major or that interest them the most.  But in reality, the classes you have to take in order to graduate are there and they must be completed.  I do not think these requirements are too strict in that sense because they’re simple credits to earn before you graduate in order to get the core classes in our education.  I do, however, believe that it prevents some students from taking the classes they enjoy or the classes they want to take.

Despite this, graduation requirements should not be more flexible depending on the students because as of now, they are reasonable.  Graduation requirements are certain points to be set and made in order for students to graduate.  If they do not meet those requirements, they cannot graduate.  It’s as simple as that.

The requirements needed to graduate include 20 total credits; 18 of these credits, though, must be academic courses (everything except gym and driver’s ed).

To be a candidate for graduation, you must have 13 ½ credits at the end of the summer before your graduation.  The main credits include having 4.0 credits of English, 2.0 credits of writing, 3.0 for mathematics, 2.0 credits for science, 2.0 for social studies, 0.5 credits for Consumer Education, 0.5 for Health Educations and 1.0 for Applied Arts.

Some people majoring in those core subjects, such as English or mathematics, will have an easy and good time for the four years of high school.  Some students, such as applied arts students or those who might want to major in fashion or art, can only take so many of those specific classes.

In my opinion, I think it is fairly easy for students to graduate at LHS because the credits you get in order to graduate can be completed before your senior year.  If you wanted to, you could finish your credits before senior year and put the Applied Arts classes into your schedule, for example.

I think these requirements benefit students because with them, they are getting a good education with their core classes before they go off to college.  They need to have some knowledge with math, English, social studies, and science because those classes are important for everyday life; students need these basic classes in order to succeed.  When I head off to college in the fall and I choose to major in business and minor in psychology, I need to have those core classes to back me up.  Especially for my major in business, I need those classes for my everyday life due to the fact that my major can take me anywhere.  I could be teaching and needing those skills or working for a company and needing to apply those skills.

The current requirements remain good in a sense that students are getting their core classes out of the way in order to graduate on time.  If students just took all the Applied Arts classes or just classes that they thought were fun, education would not be the same or as effective.

These credits are easy to take care of, so finish off your senior year strong and enjoy it while you can.