Every student’s journey through the education system is specific to themselves. Who their teachers were, what schools they attended and what area they grew up in are all variables that can drastically affect what a student finds intriguing in school. Baruch College Campus High School is a very diverse school, and the students here are no exception.

The seniors at this school all take four main subjects: Calculus, English Literature, Government, and Physics. There are also advanced placement options for each of these classes, and a college level class for calculus. 

A sample size of 33 out of the 117 seniors at Baruch (28%) were asked what their favorite subject was between the core four subjects, without specifying the level of the class, to try and get an answer. The results were interestingly mixed: 33% percent preferred math, 33% of students preferred English, 21% of students preferred Government, and 12% of students preferred Physics. To get a closer look at the reason for these results, we spoke to  a variety of people taking different levels for each subject, to see if there were any underlying reasons for this distribution.

Adrian Mehmetaj, a first year student at Baruch said, “English is my favorite subject right now.” However, this was in part because he wasn’t required to take a math class in his senior year. When asked if English was always his favorite subject, he said, “Up until this year it was math, because there is always a straightforward answer.” Having a history of success in math classes, he also said, “I’m planning on integrating math into my studies in college because I am studying computer science.”

Known for her academic proficiency,  senior Estella Camilleri said, “My favorite subject right now is history because of the real life applications it has, on top of having minimal homework.” However, she said, “Prior to this, math was my favorite subject because my dad was passionate about math, and he always insisted on me practicing it since I was young.” Despite her connection to math, she said, “Even though I enjoy math and history, I am going to study psychology, although I thought of the possibility of doing a stem major.”

Senior Dominic Stern said, “History is my favorite subject this year because I get to learn about government history and economics.” When asked what he enjoyed about this class over others, he said, “Subjects like this will help me and my peers later on in life.” He also said, “I believe that someone’s favorite subject is affected by the teacher… John Jacobs is a phenomenal teacher.”

Diligent senior Elsa Beqiri said her favorite subject is math. She said, “I first realized this in my junior year of high school when I took trigonometry.” When asked about the history of her favoritsee subject, she said, “I was a big science gal, I have a love-hate relationship with math.” Even though math isn’t always the easiest, she said, “It feels much more rewarding when learning something that difficult.”

Senior Sarann Spiegel put it perfectly, saying,  “A student’s favorite subject has to align with one’s interests, and can be affected by if they like their teacher and if their teacher likes them.”