Underclassmen are now barred by an unreasonable state law from receiving any College in the High School credits.

When students select courses for the upcoming year, college credit is a huge enticement for them to take difficult classes. The appeal of UW or BC credits causes students to flock to difficult classes to get a jump start on college without having to take a rigorous AP test at the end of the course.

Students take classes with a rigor level that they believe is manageable depending on their specific skillset. An underclassman who knows that he or she is terrible at science wouldn’t willingly sign up for Honors Physics, and same goes with one taking the language and math classes that are being denied credits.

This means that the students who do decide they can handle the extra challenge are the ones who will be affected by this change. It is capable underclassmen, who want to push themselves, that are being subjected to a rule that hampers their freedom to receive the same treatment as the rest of their peers.

Many underclassmen that enrolled in courses to get college credits are now being denied this opportunity. As a student who acquired about ten college credits in my underclassmen years, I feel that this is not only unfair, but also deters students who want to challenge themselves. Just because a student is a one year younger, does not mean that they will learn any less than the upperclassmen that are in the exact same class with them.

If an underclassman can earn a decent grade in that rigorous of a class, they should be able to reap the full reward from their toils. Under the rule’s philosophy, should juniors be able to receive less credit than seniors? Absolutely not.

Furthermore, this new rule will discourage students from taking language classes in middle school. If they start in eighth grade, they cannot get college credit unless they take that language for four years. This would destroy the programs at Maywood because students will realize that they can no longer receive credit as easily and choose to take a different elective instead.

A student who can maintain a good grade in a CHS class deserves just as much credit as their upperclassmen counterparts. For some reason, now underclassmen can take AP classes, which also give them college credit. Why should they be able to earn one but not the other? While AP classes are very difficult, so are many CHS classes. Honors physics, a CHS class, is arguably one of the hardest classes at our school.

One year should not change a student’s eligibility for credit. Underclassmen can handle classes just as well as upperclassmen.