Just in Case... by Sabina

Just in Case... by Sabina - June 2018 Scholarship Essay

I looked at this essay prompt and thought, "Oh, easy!" It then dawned on me that I have not taken an actual elective since middle school, and I am a rising senior. Every time I had an opening in my schedule that I could potentially fill with an elective, I a would try and squeeze in an AP course to boost my GPA. Now I am realizing that for the last three years, I have been living a barren life void of any of the enriching skills I could be learning outside of the core subjects. Why haven't I learned pottery? Why haven't I taken a home economics or woodworking course? Why have I become a soul-less academic robot who can spew facts exclusively within the bounds of the common core curriculum?

I love art and music, but I do art and music on the side. I have been playing piano for over 10 years. What was that final elective I took in eighth grade? I took Jazz Band, and it was a wonderful experience. If any elective should be made mandatory, it should be a music course of some sort, specifically band. Playing instruments can strengthen the corpus callosum, the part of your brain connecting the two hemispheres. Music makes you smarter! It's enjoyable, it teaches team work but also the important of individual hard work and determination. Most importantly, being part of a band teaches us that if we each do our part, we can create something valuable, and that's a lesson that physics class just won't teach you.