PSEO offers students opportunities, but students lose community
The University of Minnesota is one of the places many high school students can take PSEO classes. However this can result in loss of community “ I am not as big of a part of the south community after joining PSEO,” said Rami Azazzi, a student who take PSEO at the University of Minnesota.
November 24, 2016
Post-secondary enrollment options (PSEO) is a program offered to students at South for sophomores, juniors and seniors. This is a chance for students to take college classes, earn credits, and be more independent. Some common choices are Minnesota Community & Technical College (MCTC), University of Minnesota, and St.Paul Technical College. However, joining PSEO can result in students losing community at South.
“[PSEO] provides one additional option for students, to choose the path that’s best for them,” said the PSEO coordinator at South, Anne Plante. At South students have an opportunity to take college classes and receive college credits, and either split time between South and PSEO classes or they can be full time PSEO (all PSEO classes). Over these recent years more and more students have applied. According to the University of Minnesota about 600 high school juniors and seniors enroll in their program each year, and about 1,200 high school students in total apply. This program has helped save students a lot of money and time.
“It is an add-on, it’s not a take-away,” said Plante. Some students decide take PSEO classes because it gives you a chance to continue on a subject, that isn’t continued on at south. As Plante said, “Sometimes PSEO offers options that you just can’t get in high school, like certain advanced classes.” It gives you less community but more accelerated opportunities. “PSEO is a really good for students who like a lot of independance, know how to manage time well and want to get a college experience started early,” said Plante.
Senior Rami Azzazi, a full time PSEO student at the University of Minnesota, said that he had “adapted to the university’s community and left South’s community because it’s hard to manage both.” Students who decide to take PSEO often are not as involved at South, but this also depends on how much time they spend at South. “I am not as big of a part of the South community after joining PSEO,” said Azzazi who decided to join PSEO because he was looking for a change. Azzazi is part of the National Honor Society (NHS) at South, and a challenge was getting to some of the meetings that they had, because of his schedule at the U of M.
“Not being to be able to stay after school [at South] to get help on stuff” was a challenge to junior Stephanie Krause, who is a part time PSEO student. “I know I can’t go with someone after school to hang out because I know that I’m not gonna be there.” Krause decided to join PSEO because she wanted to continue with her spanish at a higher level.
In the end, PSEO can be a different experience for different student. It’s good to know and do some research on this program before you join it, to see what’s best for you.
Elise Gumm • Nov 25, 2016 at 9:06 pm
As a former PSEO student myself, I can say that financially, the benefits far outweighed the cost to me. With the classes at the U I have accumulated, I entered my freshman year of college at a junior status and able to take far more advanced courses than I would have if I had not done PSEO my senior year. I also had a lot more room in being able to choose my own schedule, take classes that genuinely interested me and helped me decide on my career and major. That being said, I did not have a community at South. I did not feel I was missing anything there. However, I did not find a community at the U either by being a PSEO student, though it did help me reach my academic goals. It’s a very personal decision to make, one that I wish more students would be aware of and take advantage of, especially if they want to get ahead in college. If you want to take challenging and interesting courses, get a feel for college, and have a lot more freedom than you would during the usual rat-race in high school, I highly recommend applying.