Arguably, education is cumulative. This means that the knowledge we acquire through the education system has a structure which resembles building blocks, as we construct our knowledge in a forward moving manner, based upon that which we have already learned. Hence, in grade school we learn basics, such as mathematics. In high school, on the basis of this already acquired knowledge, we may study higher mathematics. Without these foundations built upon our past education, studying on the university or college level new subjects can be extremely difficult and arduous. In a sense, without “learning the basics”, our ability to enter new fields of study is complicated. For this reason, I have selected language, arts and economics as subjects that I wished I had taken in high school.
Language, more specifically foreign languages, is a notoriously difficult subject to learn. Mastering language is about the time we are immersed in this language and our familiarity with it. Starting to learn a new language is an arduous task, such that, the earlier we start the better. In college, I have seen the importance of learning a new language, for example, through various courses offered on the curriculum to the multi-cultural makeup of our college. If I had studied language in high school, my proficiency would be already be at a level from which I could feel that I could proceed further.
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"Which Courses Did You Take in High School Do You Now Wish You Had Taken?".
The college curriculum also provides numerous interesting courses in the arts. I have lately on a personal level become more interested in the arts, primarily from exposure to new friends. The topic thus interests me. However, I have no background whatsoever in the arts. This creates a certain sense of intimidation: if I take a course in the arts now, will I be competent enough to perform satisfactorily in the course? Do I need some fundamental knowledge so as to begin studying the arts at this time? If I had taken the arts in high school, I would already have gained a familiarity with the subject and would not experience such intimidation.
A final example of a subject I wish I had studied in high school is economics, for two primary reasons. Firstly, economics is such a fundamental aspect of our life, that a familiarity with basic economic theory is almost necessary to adequately grasp what is going on in the world around us, not only on a day-to-day quotidian basis, but also on a greater social level, such as policy decisions made by the government. Secondly, economic theory, which is in one sense philosophical and is also mathematical, is, for this combined reason, extremely complex. If I had an earlier start in economics, for example, taking economics classes in high school, perhaps some of the fundamental economic concepts would already be familiar to me. This background in economics would give me a confidence to study the field further; furthermore, it would facilitate me in grasping the subject matter, which could positively affect my day-to-day life as well as my understanding the world.
Of course, these regrets about missed opportunities do not mean that I cannot pursue my interests in these topics at this moment. Rather, the above merely emphasizes that the earlier one starts learning a subject the better, in so far as mastering the material of a particular field is clearly not an easy process, but is one that is arduous and requires lots of hard work. From another perspective, however, the fact that I have identified areas I wish I had studied indicates subject matter that interests me personally and therefore subjects in which I can succeed.
