There are hundreds of college majors available, and each requires a different knowledge base and skill set. Due to the limited number of classes available at Moorestown Friends, the curriculum does not cover many of these bases. Although increasing the number of majors would be impractical, the minor blocks can be utilized to broaden the range of the MFS curricula. Minors are at the allotted time slot for students to explore their interests, so it only makes sense that these classes should offer some glimpse into the fields in which students might be interested.

For example, when I move on to college, I plan to major in international business.  Besides finance and world language, there is no class that could prepare me for a business school setting. Someone with my interest could really benefit from a class that offers an introduction to entrepreneurship. I would feel blessed to go into business school with a leg up on the classes I can expect there. I guarantee that if a person were to ask the students if they knew how to balance a checkbook or pay taxes, he or she would be greeted with a sea of blank stares. Why isn’t there a minor called life that teaches you how to live in the grown up world rather than being thrown into it without a clue? There is a hole in our education system that needs to be filled.

In order to expand the ability for students to explore their interests and basic adult needs, students should be able to complete a survey about what minors they would like to be offered.  The faculty should then in turn construct a list of minors that mirrors the desires of the student body. Wouldn’t it be nice for students to be able to select the courses they want to take, instead of selecting from a constrained set of semi-arbitrarily assigned options?  A minor is a chance to explore interests, develop passions, and get a head start on college majors; it should be a meaningful experience, not just a placeholder.