When students graduate from their sophomore year at Port Angeles High School, they are faced with the decision to ei­ther stay at the high school their junior year or take classes from nearby Peninsula College.

The Running Start program allows juniors and seniors to take up to 15 credits, which is equivalent to a full-time college student, funded by Washington State Legislature.

Many students opt to take Running Start because it pro­vides the opportunity to earn their Associates of Arts (AA) while at the same time earning their high school diploma.

Kapono Rogers (11) says about his decision to take Run­ning Start, “I think it is going to be the best choice for me. It provides a lot more wiggle room for my time. I’ll only have three hours of school.”

Less time in the classroom, however, requires more time doing work at home. Peninsula College counselors tell students to expect two hours of home­work a day for each five credit class they are enrolled in.

The issue of bal­ancing studies and social activi­ties is notoriously difficult for Running Start students.

“I didn’t want to miss out on high school while I’m still in it, I want to do college when I go to college”, says Cecily Schwa­gler (11).

John Gallagher (Staff) agrees, “I think high school Physics is followed by college Physics; you don’t skip the first to go on to the second or you’ve missed something along the way.”

Not everyone is worried about missing out on their high school experience though. “I was considering [Running Start] be­cause there’s a lot of drama that goes on at the high school, and at times I’m just wonder­ing ‘Why do I have to deal with this if I could just go to the college next year?’”, says Michael Ah­rens (10). Kapono Rogers (11) also mentioned that an escape from drama was a key factor in his choice to do full-time Run­ning Start.

However, going to Penin­sula College may not be the best choice for everybody. Michael Ahrens (10) explains, “I don’t want to over tax myself with sports and college classes”. Many students run into this problem. Finding time to do their best on homework and to also do their best in sports can be tough.

F r o m personal expe r i ­ence, I can say that Running Start is a great op­tion for self-motivated students who took all the honors courses their freshman and sophomore years and still ended up unsatis­fied with their education.

It is a lot of work, I had 5-6 hours of homework a day Spring Quarter last year, but knowing that I’ll have my first college de­gree by June makes it worth it.

At Peninsula College, most people are paying for their edu­cation which makes them more eager to be in class and in turn makes the class more enjoyable to be in.

I was able to keep my job during Run­ning Start and was work­ing around 35 hours a week. However, the difference be­tween my job and most other jobs is the fact that I am able to study and get homework done while I’m working. I wouldn’t have been able to keep working if I didn’t have the freedom to get my school work done.