Oh no! I have a Chemistry test tomorrow, and it’s already 10 PM. I really want to watch more of ‘The Bachelor’, but I really need to study. Well, I know that there will be a retake for the test anyway, so I’ll bomb this one and make sure I study for the retake. I really hope that Ben gives Lauren a rose tonight!
Sound familiar?
Sometimes, a second chance works out better than the first one, because one learns from his mistake. But, if one learns nothing, the second chance doesn’t mean anything. That is our problem with high school today. Teachers give so many second chances that students begin to depend on them.
Students take these chances for granted. The point of a retake is to learn from prior mistakes, not to just take it at a later time. If someone retakes a test without trying their hardest the first time, or choosing not to study, then the retake really didn’t teach much. The obvious lesson from this mistake is learning not to pick Netflix over studying, yet high schoolers make this mistake time and time again.
West Ottawa High School’s welcome letter states, “This is the mission of West Ottawa High School, preparing all students to be college, career, and life ready.” Giving second chances on tests is not preparing students very well for college, because students do not get many second chances once they reach college. If they do, they are going to pay a lot more for them than in High School.
A West Ottawa High School graduate who is now a freshman at Grand Valley State University has experienced the transfer from high school to college and is still trying to get acquainted with the the amount of time she has to put in compared to high school. “In college, there are no retakes on tests. This is different than most of the classes at West Ottawa, excluding the AP, IB, and advanced classes, because in most of the required classes, one can retake as many tests as he or she wants,” says the anonymous grad. This made it harder for her to start off strongly in her classes during her Freshman year.
Also, in high school, if a student fails a class, he or she can just retake it. The main penalty would be a tight schedule, a failing grade on a transcript, and a possibility of not graduating on time. In college, if a student fails a class, the penalty is all of that of the high school, plus, the student just wasted a ton of money.
If someone is attending Grand Valley State University, it costs $10,752 per year for tuition only. That is not including room, board, books, and supplies. Divide that by 30 credit classes, and that is $358.40 per class. So in college, when a student fails a class, he or she just lost all of that money. In order to retake the class to get the credit, he or she is going to have to pay the class fee again.
One may argue that West Ottawa prepares students for college with their AP, IB, and advanced classes. Absolutely, they do. Yes, West Ottawa provides them, but they can’t possibly prepare all of the students, because they are not required to take these courses.
To say the least, enjoy the second chances while they last high schoolers. They won’t always come this easily or freely.