The Space Race at school: students pursue challenges

“We chose to go to the moon in this decade and do other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard,” emphasized President John F. Kennedy in his famous 1962 moon speech.

Aside political motivations of the Cold War, JFK believed that the inevitable growth from overcoming adversity was reason enough to pursue a challenge.

Many students at Lind-Ritzville High School agree: engaging in rigorous classes is the only way to improve oneself as a scholar and as an individual.

The upper level electives in the course-loads of many students reflect such ambition and drive. Not limited to what’s available in the regular schedule, several students are taking classes independent study or online to ensure that they are truly challenging themselves.

“I wanted to get as much out of high school as I could, even if it means doing what’s hard,” explained Morgan Lane, currently enrolled in an independent study calculus course and an online Spanish II class.

Alarah Pierce-Pulliam, in Honors English 12 and Advanced Placement Environmental Science, said, “I’m taking them because I enjoy both subjects. Even though it’s my senior year and many people like to go easy, I wanted to… push myself and expand on my strengths in my education.”

Similarly, Sharon Anderson explained, “I wanted to take upper-level classes mostly for the pace. Regular class paces are usually too slow, and that gets frustrating when all I want to do is learn more.”

College admissions officers take note of students with intrinsic motivations to learn and challenge themselves. IvyWise, a website advising high school students how to best prepare for college, explained, “When reviewing an applicant, the emphasis isn’t just on general grades… More and more, colleges are placing an emphasis on course rigor because they want to ensure that students are prepared to handle a college course load.”

IvyWise clarified, “If a student is applying to a highly selective college, but has only taken one or two advanced classes, it is likely that the admissions officer reviewing that applicant will wonder whether or not that student is prepared or motivated enough to handle the academic rigors of that particular institution.”

For example, Camden Smith is taking chemistry independent study this year.

He is driven both by curiosity and by his future plans: “My motivation for taking an independent study class was to further my knowledge about chemistry, as well as to have my transcript look more rigorous for college applications.”

Rigorous classes taken independently have slightly different challenges than those taken with LRHS teachers.

For independent study classes, Smith said, “I think my favorite part will be that I’ll get to work on my own, and I think that also be the biggest challenge. I plan on overcoming that by just not being afraid to go to someone and ask for help.”

Regarding upper-level classes taken in a group, Pierce-Pulliam believed, “The workload for taking more difficult classes can be different and much larger than an average class… Teachers don’t try to make the work impossible to complete, but they do try to push you as well.”

A key difference between online/independent classes and traditional upper-level classes is inspiration. Pierce-Pulliam reflects that she’s thankful to have teachers to push her: “they make students reach a high in knowledge, education, and potential that they may not have even been aware that they could achieve.”

Independent study students develop the maturity and initiative to discover this potential on their own.

Even though students in either scenario aren’t quite ready to go out and win the Space Race, their intentions are the same as JFK.

Anderson concluded, “I’ve always needed that feeling of self-accomplishment, and not challenging myself makes me feel lazy and unproductive. I don’t feel like I’m improving myself if my class isn’t hard.”