As the semester comes to a close, most students will continue with the same classes next year. For some students, however, the new semester brings an entirely different course load.

During their senior year of high school, students are required to take economics and government. While these courses are taught over a full school year in some states, they are condensed into a single semester at this school, creating a faster-paced learning environment.

AP Economics student and senior Ismael Khan finds the class fast-paced but manageable.

“I see other schools take a full year to do econ, and for us, it’s just like a one-semester class, like the pacing was kind of fast,” Khan said. “We have tests and stuff pretty equally but I’d say the content in it of itself isn’t really that bad and as long as you take some time outside of class to study the units before the test I think you’ll be fine.”

Semester courses can be fast-paced, but some students appreciate being able to take two complementary classes in the same year.

“I think it’s good being able to take two very different history courses, senior Krish Kumar said. “They address a lot of things that we haven’t learned in previous years and they pair well together because we’re learning about the economy and the way the government operates so I think having these two semester courses is a good thing.”