Summer health,

Students going into their sophomore year are caught on one of the biggest conundrums this school has to offer: whether to take health over the summer or to take it during the school year. It is hard for students to decide, as they may not be sure which choice is the right one for them.

Most students end up taking health during school, which has its benefits. Taking health during the school year allows you to enjoy summer without worrying about school work and increases the chance of you being with your friends.

In addition, the work you get is spread out with only a couple assignments a day as opposed to multiple assignments each day, and it counts as an honors credit if you take it during the school year.

However, from personal experience I can tell you that taking health over the summer is much more effective and beneficial for a number of reasons such as balancing your schedule and time management.

Health over the summer is only three weeks, and health during the school year is a whole semester. Yes, three weeks of health also means more work each day, but the benefit of more work each day can reinforce mental toughness and determination, because this course forces you to get your work done each day and not slack off.

The idea that you can get a whole semester of class into just three weeks is what drives students to take it over the summer. “It was three weeks instead of a whole semester, the choice seemed simple,” sophomore Sachin Krishna-Rogers said.

Taking health over the summer also helps you balance your schedule for the upcoming school year. Instead of taking one semester of health and one semester of another class of your choice, you have the luxury of choosing a class you are interested in and taking it the whole year.

If you really want to take a class you’re passionate about, but just don’t have room for it in your schedule, the choice is simple. Take health over the summer, which will allow you the freedom to take that class you’ve always wanted to take.

Personally, ever since I was in middle school I knew I really wanted to take newspaper in high school, but I just didn’t have the room for it in my schedule. Due to this, when I heard I had the chance to take health over the summer, I jumped at the opportunity and found myself in newspaper my sophomore year.

There was a bigger workload in a shorter amount of time no doubt, but the summer class taught me to not procrastinate and forced me to get all my assignments done on time. The multiple assignments that I was given each day opened me up to the reality of sophomore year. The course gave me a taste of how my life would be in my upcoming school year, and prepared me for what was in store in the future.

~James Walsh
staff writer

In-school health,

In freshman and sophomore year, students have the debate on whether to take health over the summer or in school. Students don’t want to give up a class during the year, but they also don’t want to waste their summer taking health. Students have struggled with this decision regret the decision they make. Students also struggle with which year of high school to take health because they don’t know when they can fit it into their schedule.

Students may believe that it is best to take health during the summer because they feel as if taking it for only a month where you have tons of free time to focus on health is better than taking it for a full semester and then having to deal with the stresses of school. Also, students feel that the course is easier because it is all online so you can use more resources to help you with the assignments in class. Lastly, students feel like taking it during the summer is better because you can put all of your focus on health and learn important information about your body,

Personally, I disagree with all of that. Health should be taken during the year because the point of summer is to escape from school and not worry about the rigorous classes during the school year. Summer is meant for relaxation and your summer would be disrupted by a class that you could easily take during the year. People are typically less motivated during the summer so there is a better chance that they would slack and not perform to the best of their abilities for health class.

Taking a class online can also be a struggle because you don’t have direct contact with a teacher. There is a higher chance that you will mess up on the assignment because you may have a question on it but you don’t have anyone to ask because there is no teacher in the summer class. Lastly, every student is capable of organizing their schedule in order to have health. It’s just one semester and it is a necessary class for all students.
Overall, it’s better to take health during the year. The positives outweigh the negatives and most students don’t want to waste their summers doing something they could do in one semester.

~Jack Lvovsky
sports editor