Every year, the entire sophomore class switches gears and rotates into a new classroom at the beginning of each semester. While the Human and Social Development class is required for graduation, no one has ever stopped to wonder: why do sophomores get to pick their other semester elective? How has that affected them during the last semester before junior year?
There are four elective semester classes available for sophomores to choose from in the Campo curriculum: Intro to Computer Programming, Intro to Ethnic Studies, Intro to Psychology, and Fundamentals of Yoga. Of these options, every sophomore has the chance to explore potential interests, and if they are willing to dive deeper, gain the opportunity to explore different fields of study.
Sophomore Sophie Tang, who is currently taking Fundamentals of Yoga, had her own views to share about Human and Social Development: “It’s a combination of different units about the teenage mind and how students develop through different circumstances. In different units, we learned about ourselves and how we interact with each other. I did not have a problem with Ms. Cody, she’s a great teacher.”
While HSD, with its units on identity, relationships, physical and mental wellness, substance use and abuse, and sexuality, covers essential knowledge to allow for good decisions, it is not nearly as flexible as the semester classes that accompany it. Aurora Mendes, another sophomore who took Intro to Psychology the previous semester, expressed her appreciation about being able to pick her semester class: “I was happy that I got to choose, because I’m really interested in [psychology] and it’s something I want to pursue later on in the future.”
Intro to Ethnic Studies, which has recently become a graduation requirement and a mandatory class starting with the Class of 2027, is also a topic of interest in the humanities field, where the course examines different ethnic, racial and cultural groups in American history. Taught by Diane Bessette, it has gained popularity with its intriguing course material, as agreed with by sophomore Nishta Mukundan, former Ethnic Studies student, who stated, “I think it’s good for people to learn about all of the things that happened in American history in relation to ethnic cultures, and I think that history classes sort of gloss over a lot of different parts of the world.”
The last available semester class is Intro to Computer Programming, which has admitted more students than any of the other semester courses. Sophomore Yi-Yi Nguyen, who was encouraged to take it, found fascinating things to learn within those roughly sixteen weeks: “We learned about coding languages like Scratch, and also how to create different computer websites. We also did a lot of hands-on assignments like game design and independent projects.”
Nonetheless, with the mandated Ethnic Studies either preceding or following Human and Social Development, sophomores will no longer be able to choose their semester class; with this unique, sophomore-restricted opportunity now going away, Mendes explained her disappointment in this decision: “That really sucks because I feel like you lose a lot of opportunities. It’s brutal for all of these other electives to go away, since everyone wants to go after what they want to learn about. I think that’s really important, so that it inspires people to want to learn, giving them the option to get to choose.”
Overall, the transition between semester classes was, as confirmed by the interviewed sophomores, rather seamless and all part of the shift in academic learning material. This semester class change will have served a purpose, however, by contributing to the experience that sophomores will need in order to pick their courses for the coming junior year.
