Many think the go-to languages to learn are Spanish, or French, but for Junior Karen Brocket picking Mandarin was the way to go.
Recently there has been a Chinese classes added to the curriculum at West. Kids from all three of the high schools and even Summit Lakes Middle School are brought in to take this class. Brocket is just one of these students.
Brocket not only enjoys the Mandarin culture but has family ties into it as well.
“My dads fiancé is Taiwanese so she knows Mandarin and then the Mandarin culture is pretty cool so I just want to be able to go over there and they might be moving there so in case I have to visit them, it will be good to know,” said Brocket.
“I’ll probably want to do something with the language in the future like if I ever do want to go to to China or Taiwan then I can get a job immediately,” said Brocket. “You also can get paid a little bit more here if you can translate.”
Due to there being a lack of a Chinese class at Summit Lakes Middle School, they bus in the eighth graders to take the class with the upperclassmen. Some may argue they aren’t mature enough to be in the high school setting.
“It interesting working with the younger kids because we are so much older. They understand the information but they can be interesting at times. They definitely act different than the upper class-man do,” said Brocket.
Although the class is difficult, it can be rewarding for the students in the class.
“The class is really fun. I encourage more people to take it even though it’s kind of hard and there is a lot of studying involved. I really enjoy it,” said Brocket.
