At the end of my eighth grade, I needed to select my classes for my first year of high school. For freshmen, most of the classes that they take are requirements. At the time I was interested in technology and saw that, during my junior year, I could apply to a technical center to earn college credit for a trade. I thought that was what I wanted to do, so I signed up for a prerequisite: Introduction to technology.

After my first year of high school, I was introduced to advanced placement courses, which I thought would give me an advantage for college if I took them. Taking those courses helped me make a decision to not go to the technical center, but to further my education and attend college.

In my own college experience, so far, the courses that I took in high school were relevant to what I am currently studying, greatly reducing the amount of stress of simply transitioning from a high school classroom to a college classroom.

I hope that, in these difficult economic times, the community will not cut back on course offerings, but will expand them.

Colby McKay, Sabattus