Hey guys! How are you all today? I hope all of you are well and having a great summer! It’s almost August already.
I’m sorry that this is such a long question and weird story. I know this story may be unbelievable, and I won’t blame any of you guys if you guys think this is a lie. I just felt like despite myself knowing what will happen, in the end, it would be nice to receive input. Thanks for all you guys do.
In ninth grade, I took Spanish and Orchestra as my elective courses. Don’t get me wrong, I generally love Orchestra. Sometimes, it is a bit of a pain to practice and sometimes I feel lazy about it. But overall, playing my violin is a joyride, especially if I’m playing a song I enjoy. I also have a big group of friends in the class who I hang out with, and they’re incredible. They’re almost like a second family to me, and they always accept me into everything they do, and no one has ever treated me so special before. I love all of them, but I hated Orchestra in ninth grade. You guys probably wonder how it is possible for me to hate it, especially because of all the positive notes I hit. It’s really the teacher. My Orchestra teacher is very scary, and I fear him. He once threw his conducting baton at me because I played with too little bow and screamed f bombs into my face. He constantly picks on one kid in class because he ties his shoes often, and whenever something bad happens, he always blames it on him or me, and it makes me upset. The biggest problem of all is that most people in Orchestra love this teacher, and I’m not exactly sure why. He makes fun of the staff at my school (sadly most teachers in my school do this), makes fun of some parents he’s met, makes fun of the classmate of mine the most, and makes tons of inappropriate jokes. He’s very strict about playing and is angered very easily, especially during the time of assessments. He yelled almost every day near assessments, and sometimes would get so mad that he would just end class early and run into his office.
When it was time for us to sign up for courses for tenth grade, I picked Orchestra again because all the other electives I wanted to take were only for eleventh graders and up, or so I thought. I found out on the last day of school, the deadline of the day you request schedule changes that tenth graders are allowed to sign up for Sociology. I have always been a humanities-oriented person, and I have always been interested in things such as sociology. Why do people fall in love with each other? Why do cliques exist? Why do people act certain ways around someone and different than the other? Sociology is the first semester, and the second semester of the class on Current Affairs, which also sounds pretty cool. In fact, I think Sociology and Current Affairs sound more interesting than Orchestra, despite how much I love the violin because I’m a very curious and adventure loving people. I’ve always wanted to know the big questions of relationships and functions of societies. However, the most ironic thing about all of this good news is that the Sociology teacher was a World History 1 Honors teacher, and he acts just like my Orchestra teacher. Even though I didn’t have am, I know this for many reasons. When kids talk about how much they love him, the characteristics and behaviors he does is very similar to my Orchestra teacher. I also met him one time, and he yelled at my friends and I the first time we met him because they were splitting up kids who were taking World History 2 Honors and AP World History to give summer assignments. I’ll admit it was partially my fault when I couldn’t hear them announcing this, but the classroom was very loud with the talking students, and I felt like he didn’t have to curse and yell at me so hard. While I am more interested in Sociology than Orchestra, the big question comes down to this. Which is actually better?
Both are regular courses, and both have their pros and cons. For Orchestra, I have great friends, free time to play music with the violin, and explore new places. Especially as an adventurer, going to different countries and states, especially with friends, is very appealing. Playing violin also is relaxing sometimes. For Sociology, I have a subject that’s more interesting for a semester, a pretty cool second semester class on analyzing current media, and a class that will probably help me understand relationships with others better as well.
Both have a big con in that both have a teacher that isn’t particularly my taste but that’s really the only thing that’s holding me back from either. With only one spot, I know I can’t do both, so it makes me wonder what’s really best for me. I don’t want to give up what I really want to do just because there’s a mean teacher, because a teacher is just a person just like me, and it’s possible that they’re going through a rough spot in life just like me, just like anyone, and I feel like maybe it’s selfish of me to expect so much from them. Maybe, sometimes, I wonder if there’s a reason why people like the Sociology teacher, and I just don’t know yet.
I hope it’s okay for me to ask for the advice of all of you. What would be the best thing to do in a case like this? Now, the reason why I said earlier this may be an useless question is because of the deadline issue. Because I was stuck with Orchestra after the deadline, it’s possible that the school will not even consider switching Orchestra to Sociology for me. I recently sent an email to my counselor asking if it’s possible at all to move from Orchestra to Sociology or if there’s even room in Sociology for me to move and explained what I explained to all of you. She’s supposed to come back to the school on August 11, according to her automated response, so I have some time to think about it. It’s possible it’s useless to think about all of this because I could just be stuck in Orchestra. My best friend, who is also in Orchestra with me, is also in a similar situation, as he’s trying to switch from Orchestra to a Medical Science elective in the summer. However, if my counselor were to allow a switch to Sociology, should I do it?
Again, I’m so sorry if this is too long of a question, or if it is an useless question. Thank you so much everyone for your support and for taking time to read this. Have a great day and rest of the summer.