English Class: Should it REALLY Be Mandatory for University?



English. A course we all have to take for all 4 years of our time in high school.

Each year we face the multiple grammar tests we have to study for, the different Shakespeare play we have to read every year, and that final essay we have to write a different book yearly. 
Don't forget about that moment during the final exam when you decide to glance up at the clock and realize you have 15 minutes left for the exam and you still have to come up with the conclusion for your in-class essay!


 As my high school days come to an end, I am finally going to voice my opinion on the commonly asked and thought about question among the student body:

Should grade 12 University
English really be a necessary requirement for entry into all university programs?

 Despite the opposing opinions that I may receive from my friends and fellow peers, I personally do think that the Grade 12U English course should be a course that is necessary for you to take in order to get into a university. 

 Do I think that EVERY SINGLE THING we do in the course is necessary? NOPE. 
Do I think that overall, the course will be BENEFICIAL for our post-secondary education? YES. 

 Here's why... 

 1. Communication Skills 
During my years in English class, I've noticed that teachers always try and push you to step outside your comfort zone and take risks when it comes to communication of any sort. That might include mandatory participation in Socratic circles, speeches, creative writing, and essay writing. You might not directly notice it, but these assignments help us become better communicators, whether it's being better able to speak or write with more persuasion, being able to communicate in a more concise and effective manner, or maybe just being able to talk or write with more confidence in yourself. We communicate every day, and the skills we learn throughout the English courses, especially by the time you take 12U, it will help you communicate with others better. It's usually only realized after we graduate, and leave the small bubble we call high school, and actually enter a world with more opportunities. 


 2. Creativity 
Another thing that I've noticed is that English is a class that encourages creativity. This is something you can't always do in other classes like math or science. Now, you might ask, well why is being creative important? Where is it going to get me? Well, believe it or not, creativity gets you pretty far. Later on when you enter the workforce, and you're competing with maybe 200 other people for a job, you have to show the employer why you are the best candidate for the position. You have to make yourself stand out from the rest of the candidates, and what's the best way to do that? Being creative! Be creative with your interview answers, be creative with the proposals you hand in, and be creative anything a new opportunity shows up at your door. The countless "Make a prediction..." or "Infer..." that we see on worksheets or tests, allows for us to think outside the box and come up with answers with minimal information.

 3. Content
As I said before, I definitely do not think that everything we do in class is completely necessary. But when you take a step back and look at the big picture, it's not really about the actual work you do in class, but the skills you learn from it. Let be honest here, the majority of us will probably never lay our eyes on another Shakespeare novel ever again after high school. However, a skill that was learned while reading those plays was to be able to dissect and deconstruct a piece of work, even if it's difficult to understand. Trust me, you don't understand how many times Shakespeare's writing made me raise an eyebrow, but over time, I learned to adapt, slowly being able to break apart the hidden meanings and phrases of his plays. People have told me that entering university is exactly like this. The first batch of 1000 page textbooks you're going to have to read, will be like reading Shakespeare for the first time; you won't understand a thing! But with the skills you learned from reading Shakespeare, you'll be able to dissect and figure out what is really important in the text, and with practice, you'll be able to do it a lot quicker. 

In complete honesty, English was never my favourite class because I've always been more of a math and science person. However. I do think that English class has taught me more practical skills that I'll be using on a daily basis than probably any other course I've ever taken. We might not like the thought of writing those essays, doing grammar exercises, or reading plays in old English, but it helps. It really does help. Even though we might question why English is necessary and mandatory all throughout highschool, we won't 10 years down the road. We'll be lucky that universities made it a requirement for admissions into their schools, because ultimately, sometimes it's not about what you literally learn in class, but what you're able to carry with you out of the class and into the world. 
Also... Here's a great video I found that gives a little more insight on why English is important! :) 

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