It is about time for course selection. To help you out, students and Mr. Kassissieh shared some advice and experience to provide guidance for next year’s intensive selection.

“The most important thing is that students should think about what they’re curious and interested in, not necessarily what other people think they should be studying or what stereotypes might exist out there in the world,” said Richard Kassissieh, assistant head of school for academic and strategic initiatives. “It’s really important that we not allow stereotypes and cliches to make students think, ‘Oh, this class isn’t for me.’” 

Another approach to choosing your intensive comes from Teddy Bergstrom, a seventh-grader who chose the Introduction to Musical Theater intensive.

“Don’t choose an intensive because your friends are in it,” he said. “Choose something you’re passionate about because if that intensive is the right fit with you, you’ll get really close to the people in your intensive and you’ll make more friends.” 

Bergstrom also shared some insights into his intensive experience.

“I love the bond I formed with the other people in the intensive,” he said. 

Bergstrom added that he didn’t have many friends going into it but, “Then, we came out with it [the musical] and we’re all really close friends.”

Another student, eighth-grader Haydn Gleason, took the Project Science intensive and was one of the few girls in the class.

“I didn’t love that there weren’t very many girls in the classroom, but I really enjoyed the class, and I got to work with some really great people,” Gleason said. “I have always been interested in engineering, and the UPrep science curriculum doesn’t really have a lot of engineering in it, so I really wanted to learn more about the design process.”

You can keep this advice and information in mind when you select your winter 2021 intensive after spring break.