Upperclassmen, surely you have noticed that many of your senior friends have attained a free period this school year, and you may be wondering what the hype is about.
Free periods have been a perk unique to seniors at Arcata High for a long time, allowing them to have an empty class slot in either 1st or 6th period. This benefits students with a later start to their mornings or an earlier end to their afternoons, which gives them highly desired free time once the infamous “senioritis” kicks in.
Senior Malia Wolven has her free period first thing in the morning, yet she claims that she does not get to start her day any later than she did in the past.
“I’m [dual enrolled] in Business Law so I still have a class during that period,” Wolven said. “It’s just asynchronous… I go to Coffee Break and then do work there for an hour and a half.”
However, not all students are looking for more schoolwork. Senior Eron Luoma also has a free 1st period. He likes to spend his time doing things that are more for himself.
“After Orchestra, I either go home, do my homework, or go to the gym,” Luoma said.
At the other end of the school day, senior Sasha Dronkers has this freedom during sixth period. For Sasha, scheduling conflicts between AAI and dual enrollment college courses have complicated her afternoons, but now she has found the sweet spot for her time.
“On Wednesdays, I take my free period and I go to a Master Class for AAI because my [AAI] period is [during] fourth period, so if I want to do it I have to stay at school extra,” Dronkers said.
The unfortunate issue is that counselors are not always willing to give a free period to everyone. Senior students must have met, or nearly met, the credit requirement for electives to attain a free period. Senior Ohsoo Kwon commented that he was only eligible to get his free period due to his enrollment in zero-period Orchestra and participation in two school sports since his freshman year.
There is no reason not to try for it though, you may be caught by surprise. Since senior Hiro Sugata attained her free period, she could not be happier having one fewer class.
“I didn’t plan to have a free period,” Sugata said. “But now I couldn’t imagine not having it.”
