By Samiksha Mehta – Staff Reporter

Course Selection Week begins the week of February 11. Advocate staff reporter Samiksha Mehta interviewed school counseling department head Mrs. Dunnuck about the importance of course selection.

Samiksha Mehta: As a school counselor, what path do you think is the best for your students?

Mrs. Dunnuck: I don’t actually believe there’s a “best” path for my students. I believe that whatever path they choose to take is the best path for them. All students have different paths they want to go down, so the “best” path depends on them.

SM: Do you think giving suggestions is a good idea?

MD: Absolutely. Receiving suggestions is a good way for students to understand what class they’re being recommended for and what class they wanted to. For example, if you’re in English 2 this year, you’re going to have to go into English 3. That’s just how it is. Receiving suggestions allows the students to understand why they’re being given the suggestion and if they should act upon it or not.

SM: What type of suggestions do you focus on giving?

MD: The type of suggestion I focus on giving is basically just for the students to challenge themselves. I want them to take the hardest course they can, but still try and be as successful as they can be.

SM: Is Course Selection Week stressful in your opinion?

MD: I believe it has to be stressful to some degree. They have to pick classes they want, then get suggestions from their teachers which might lead them to change their original classes and they also have to make sure that their classes are within the limit so, yeah, I guess it is stressful.