Dropping a class opens up valuable time during the school day to do homework, eat lunch, or even screw around in the library.

Dropping a class, especially for juniors and seniors, is often much better than the alternative: sitting through repetitive or uninteresting classes with sometimes younger students.

All these reasons and more contribute to the epidemic of upperclassmen dropping their language courses.

While New Trier does not require students to take a language course, the graduation requirement document states that “colleges are looking for diversity and rigor in the high school academic record,” suggesting that Trevians take two to four years of the same language.

Because New Trier accepts junior high credit for languages, many students enter high school in years 2, 3, or even 4 in the language they have been taking since middle school.

Not only are incoming freshmen on different levels, but this system puts some of them on track to attain the recommended number of language years by their sophomore or juniors years.

As a result, many students choose to take less than four years of the same language. While there are various extenuating circumstances and reasons as to why someone would drop an MCL class, the negative effects of it extend far beyond having an extra forty minutes to shoot the breeze with your buddies in the Scrounge.

Language, whether it be Spanish, Chinese, French, or even Latin, can only benefit you after your time as a Trevian.

Going into college with four-plus years of a language under your belt can help you gain exemption from language courses (which can cost hundreds of dollars) at your post-high school institution, as well as help you pick up an attractive foreign exchange student by impressing him or her with a simple “Bonjour.”

But seriously, knowing a language will help you in the real world. Being proficient (even slightly) in a foreign language can help you if you decide to travel abroad for a semester in college or if you are looking for a job that might hire based on knowledge of other languages.

One MCL teacher in particular is quite experienced with various foreign dialects and is adamant about students staying in the program here at New Trier.
Venera Stabinsky, the only German teacher at Winnetka, grew up speaking Russian and Tatar, and it wasn’t until college that she learned English.

“I have been speaking German for almost three decades and English for about 15 years,” Stabinsky said, noting that it was in high school that she first learned German, the language that has provided her a career.

“Students’ [language] proficiency develops over time and with a lot of practice. If you do not use the language, you lose it, and I can attest to that.”

Learning a language takes commitment. It is on the student to complete nightly homework and even practice in his or her free time, because as everyone knows, practice makes perfect.

Despite this obligation, Stabinsky said it’s worth it. “Nowadays, languages are essential for careers in a lot of different industries.”

Another multi-lingual student chimed in on his love for foreign languages and the role they play in our daily lives. Matthew Mickiewicz, a native Polish speaker, has been studying German since freshman year and adds that he has not regretted one moment of it.

“It’s essential to know other languages (like German) because it gives you an entirely different point of view. People who speak English their whole lives don’t know anything outside of America,” Mickiewicz said. “Knowing a language gives you a completely different perspective on the global community, and most importantly, it gives you another identity.”

Although dropping a language class in favor of a free period might be tempting, you gain a cultural identity and receive an edge that English-only speakers can only dream of receiving.