Purple Haze
Considering the options
By Lauren Bagian

April 23, 2009

One of the incredible advantages of being an upperclassman at Northern is the multitude of options that become available. It’s not just the variety of classes that increases, but where you can take those classes and how specialized they can be. While completing senior year class selections, current juniors can schedule their classes so that all the time they are required to be at Northern during the day is only in the morning or the afternoon making the leftover half of the day “flex-time” for the student to use as he or she pleases.

This time is not spent sitting at home watching YouTube videos though; it is either spent academically or at a job. However, “academically” doesn’t just mean doing homework, and that is where all the options come into play. A great option for students is provided by Harrisburg Area Community College, which has opened its doors to high school students around the mid-state. Seniors are able to attend classes at HACC after passing the entrance examination. Their classes can be used for college credit or to simply cultivate the student’s interests. The exam and class selection process is all handled by Northern and its guidance counselors along with the HACC representatives, just another way Northern helps its students succeed.

If college classes aren’t what the student is interested in, there is another choice--internships. Students can spend half of their day shadowing and assisting a professional in a career that seems intriguing. Love music? Help direct the middle school band. Interested in medicine? Shadow a nurse at Holy Spirit Hospital. Dillsburg and the surrounding area are always open to hardworking young individuals wanting to learn about a certain career field. Again, Northern’s staff doesn’t make its students do everything on their own--Nothern’s very own career advisor helps find suitable internships for interested students.

It’s true, the older you get, the more responsibility you have, but that doesn’t mean the extra responsibility is a bad thing. Northern’s extra opportunities and support help to prepare students for college and beyond by providing important life experiences that can’t always be taught in a high school classroom alone.