The task of arranging courses to fulfill class requirements is not easy. With picking a science, a period for math, and moving around classes so that you can have an elective during your sophomore year, arranging next semester’s courses can be a chore. 

I am in the ALPS track, so like all other Small Learning Communities and Magnet programs, we have specific requirements for classes. As a current freshman soon entering my sophomore year, I recently discovered the paradox of scheduling. 

Most sophomores are not even able to take an elective due to the high amounts of classes that needed to be taken in a student’s sophomore year. But, as someone who is on top of this issue, I struggled to accept that reality. I wanted to take Journalism 2. 

When my counselor came into my Period 1 class to discuss next year’s course schedules, I almost immediately set up a meeting with her to figure out an option for my elective. 

There were a couple of choice options, but I decided to take the second year of my LOTE, French, as an online Edgenuity course. Unfortunately, there was no guarantee that the class would be available next year. 

Currently, I am taking the second semester of French 1, and the first semester of French 2. I will be having to finish my entire French 2 course (that I started about two weeks ago) before the end of this semester. 

It is stressful to have such a strict schedule on a self-paced, usually year-long course. I am happy that I was able to find a solution to my issue, but sophomores want to take an elective, and they should have the opportunity to. 

Many sophomores are out preparing for college, and schools want to see dedication to clubs, AP classes, and extracurriculars. It’s hard to prepare when students have no time to do so. 

Overcrowding makes it essential to almost immediately choose your classes before you can even think about the structuring of it all. AP classes require you to stay in it the whole year, no ‘on second thought…’ options. 

With more classes becoming required such as the new law stating that all high-schoolers must take an ethnic studies class, starting with the class of 2030, there are so many things that students must get done.

Students should not feel the pressure of scheduling classes every year and having every year’s class thought out to the T by their freshman year. 

LAUSD needs to find a proper way to let students take a variety of classes, at least one a year that they choose to discover interests, and the basic requirements for every student should not require summer classes to complete.