A New Elective: Social Inclusion 101 by Blake

A New Elective: Social Inclusion 101 by Blake - February 2022 Scholarship Essay

Elective classes in high school offer opportunities for all students to branch out from the typical core classes that they are required to take. In my own personal case, I decided to take 'Intro to Broadcasting and Video Technology' as an elective my sophomore year. Now, I'm enrolled at the University of Missouri with an anticipated major of Broadcast Journalism. I've gone on to win multiple awards for live sports broadcasts, as well as become the first student in the broadcasting program's history to hold the Sports Director position for two years. With that being said, it's safe to say that electives are just as, if not more important than required core classes such as math and social studies.
Another attribute that elective classes present is the art of bringing students together, regardless of gender, race, political beliefs, or any other characteristics. However, a constant lingering problem in our schools today is that these groups of students don’t exactly mix well. They are brought together, and exposed to each other’s cultures and backgrounds, but students feel that there is still an invisible wall between each other. They don’t know how to act towards one another, or how to come together naturally. That is why my idea for a new elective class in schools not just locally, but all across the country, is Social Inclusion 101.
In Social Inclusion 101, students of all cultures and backgrounds will take time to learn about and understand each other. They’ll participate in activities inside the walls of a typical classroom, but will also be required to challenge themselves by engaging in thinking-outside-the-box activities outside of the classroom. This class would be beneficial to our community as a whole, as students would naturally acquire the communication and social skills that they need to collaborate with students that they wouldn’t normally come in contact with. These skills would stick with students all throughout their lives, with the hope that they will share their experiences with offspring of their own someday. We have to start somewhere to better ourselves from a standpoint of accepting everyone, and I believe implementing Social Inclusion 101 as an elective would greatly benefit our schools for eternity.