As the end of the 2021-22 school year nears closer and closer, students are beginning to plan promptly. With anxious seniors ready for takeoff and exhausted juniors barely hanging on, everyone is building a whole new schedule. And with a new year, comes change. The FMHS counseling staff, and administration as a whole, has decided to give students some freedom, a risky choice. But nevertheless, one that will provide power over one’s scheduling choices and ultimately, academic privilege. With this newfound choice in students’ hands, indecisiveness and severe fear-of-missing-out looms. The idea of designing one’s schedule, especially for senior year, seems highly appealing at first. But when one must decide between their favorite class and an AP course that will help them achieve their future career, this privilege becomes more of a curse than a blessing. 

The scheduling process has been carried out in a fairly orderly fashion, including announcements every hour or so calling students with scheduling appointments to the FMHS library. A line forming quickly, students must simply hope their desired classes still hold space for them. However, this hope isn’t always enough and students may be asked to replace classes or get rid of them entirely, this being quite a lot of stress at the moment. But scheduling processes, whether executed by staff or students themselves, are always prone to provoking stress on both parties. The revelation that one might not be near their friends throughout the eight hours of grueling education, gets many worked up and teary eyed even. But FMHS counseling is flexible and always does their best to accommodate. 

Despite the stresses this new scheduling process has caused, students seem mostly pleased about their newly acquired power; independent young adults. The hopes of teaching responsibility and some stability and balance are most definitely being achieved with this exciting change.