How Dual Enrollment Can Enhance Education in High School
The last four years of school before going to college can feel long and draining, especially when you don’t have the opportunity to fully explore your interests. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
(Mikayla Mallek via Unsplash)
Berkeley, CA — A lot of high school students nowadays take AP and honors classes in order to be competitive for college admissions. But there’s another option that often isn’t considered — dual enrollment.
Going into high school, I was excited about the classes I could take that fit my interests. My school offers a wide variety of courses compared to others. But given all the required classes, there’s a cap on how many electives I’m allowed to take, which made me feel restricted in my learning.
So I decided to enroll in a community college class after hearing about it through school announcements. And I don’t regret it. Because I got to choose classes I found interesting, I actually looked forward to lectures, and the content was genuinely engaging. Balancing the extra coursework helped me improve my time management skills in order to stay on top of everything.
I've now taken about 10 community college classes. And I feel more prepared for college than I would have been otherwise. I got to learn about myself: what subjects I’m interested in and what I need to thrive in academic settings.
While I still take AP and IB classes offered by my school, community college classes have offered unique benefits. Because for the first time, I was in an active role in my education.