Most schools offer the following strands: GAS or General Academic Strand, HESS or Humanities Education and Social Sciences, ABM or Accountancy and Business Management, and STEM or Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics. But which should you choose?
And what makes the General Academic Strand special? Why do most students prefer GAS?
Senior high school graduates mention that it’s a great option to find the college course you really like, new and cool subjects, chances to take subjects from other strands, and the prospect of becoming a jack of all trades.
Still Searching…
Some students, sometimes as early as elementary, already have a definite career path that they want to achieve. But not everyone is in the same situation. There are college graduates who still struggle with their careers, who may have enrolled in a course that they don’t really like but for the sake of only having a college diploma.
Experiencing different strands gives students an idea of how their prospective careers work. Most of the young working adults are quite disillusioned with their current careers due to the fact that most of them have almost no actual experience.
With the General Academic Strand, you’ve got the option to choose the proper immersion experience that suits you. Due to the open electives, you can find your career by trying to enroll in mixed strand subjects.
New and Cool Subjects
Other courses are more specialized in their own strand, but have you ever heard of Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction? It is a fairly new subject added in senior high school often exclusive in the general academic strand.
You also have two extra humanities subjects, usually already fixed by the school or open for the student to choose. Also included in the strand are Social Sciences, Applied Economics, and Organization and Management
Jump Ships!
Being a GAS student, you have two elective classes where you can choose from the variety of subjects being offered by the different strands.
You want to understand history or literature? Take some subjects from HESS. Do you want to understand how chemical reactions happen? Apply on some STEM subjects. Do you think the world is a huge business opportunity? Then get some ABM subjects. But you might have a passion for history and covalent bonds. Then take one subject from HESS and another from STEM.
The combinations are endless. Just follow the passion of your liking. GAS strand offers freedom to choose. The electives are not confined to subjects but a skill-based class can be considered.
Jack of All Trades
The end result of having a degree of freedom in choosing your electives can be a great asset. A Jack of All Trades is adept at any task set before him or her.
Employment nowadays requires a certain niche. For example, teachers who can speak different languages are open in the market. These kinds of employment are great in nature due to being more specific. Having a specific skill set when as young as a teenager and furthering those skills will be beneficial in the long run.
The Takeaway
If you still have no idea what you want to be when you grow up, experience different strands in the span of only two years, and acquire different skills and discipline, it is advisable to take the General Academic Strand. The options for the subjects are limitless and it’s up to the student to maximize the strand.
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