Finding one’s passion in high school isn’t a priority for some students, but with a wide variety of specialized courses to choose from on campus it’s getting easier. Semester-long courses offer a wide variety of focuses, and with scheduling flexibility from a student’s freshman year to their senior year, all different aspects of the working world can be experienced.

“I’m taking medical terminology because I want to work in the medical field,” freshman Carolyn Murad said.

Students are able to expose themselves to the medical field or what it’s like to become a teacher, engineer, work in the business world, all courtesy of semester classes. The path one decides to take starts out with semester classes, however the transition from one class to another halfway through the year is different from your usual schedule.

“I teach Business Management, Virtual Business, and Money Matters,” teacher Brandon Villarreal said. “It’s not a problem adjusting to a new class starting at the semester, it’s just a matter of getting to know the kids, and getting to know the class.”

Time management can be challenging because of the shorter first semester.

“I am able to go more in depth with the second semester than the first, and can cover more material more thoroughly,” Villarreal said.

For some, the semester length doesn’t affect their courses.

“The length of the semesters doesn’t affect my classes, because I teach different courses each semester,” Family and Consumer Science teacher Amanda Gulley said. “I teach Principles of Education and Training, Child Development, Life Nutrition, Fashion Marketing and Family and Community Services for students that want to go into those fields.”

Ultimately, the choice is up to the student.

“The semester classes really allow the student to get to find out exactly what they want to do,” Gulley said. “I know and love a lot of the kids in my semester classes and I think that it really helps them find their passion despite the schedule changes.”