Working for Free, aka, Interning

I started working at my school counseling internship this week. I have been helping with school registration and shadowing counselors helping students adjust their schedules. Many students are taking 3-4 AP classes as juniors or seniors. One dilemma students are having with scheduling is dropping an AP class. Suddenly summer is coming to an end and they realize they may have taking on more than they feel ready for. Others have neglected the summer reading and feel unprepared for classes to begin. Whatever the case, students are not allowed to drop AP classes during registration. They had a fair amount of time in the spring to drop the AP courses. Of course, some will be able to drop the class with an appeal to the department head. The other dilemma students are having is wanting to take a "fun" class that may not be considered as academically rigorous on college applications. These are the same kids who are taking 4 AP classes and will probably graduate high school with enough credits to be a sophomore. My heart went out to the students as I watched them struggling to make these tough decisions. When you're 17 school is pretty much your life and your schedule is a BIG DEAL.

These observations got me thinking about a few things that may lead to future postings.

1. What a lucky problem for these students to have. They have been raised to value education and have been given amazing resources in one of the nation's largest urban and often failing school districts. 
2. I know a strong course load is essential and important for schools to encourage. How do we as school counselors guide students to decisions about dropping APs or taking what some would feel is too many APs?
3. With such a strong emphasis on rigorous schedule, is there time for young people to take fun classes like families and relationships or life skills like I did? How can they explore these types of things? 
4. ...And. these classes led me to my career, in a way, it seems as if the heavy emphasis on some of the APs sends the message that certain careers are not valued as much.
5. It's as if the rat race begins at 14 when you enter 9th grade, or is it 7th, when students are taking the ISATS that will produce scores for high school applications? (It's not really a rat race, because education is not a meaningless pursuit, although it can be endless!)
6. This is the opposite problem we discuss often in class. Typically we talk about how to encourage students to take harder courses and work on closing the achievement gap. 
7. I  need to find a wardrobe that doesn't make me look 50, but more importantly, doesn't make me look 19. I may also need to cut my hair.

Whoa, that was a lot of thinking from 2 days of  handing out schedules! Thoughts?