“Choosing General Academic Strand”

Jonaliza Mae B. Gongona

A pleasant afternoon to all of you, I am Mae Gongona, a returning grade 11 student of ICSB.
Three months ago I didn’t even know what strand to choose. My father told me that I should be a doctor,
so my cousin said that I should take STEM. However, at some point, I also want to be a lawyer so my
other cousin said that I should take HUMSS. Then, I thought about my goal of driving an airplane so I
told them that I want to be a pilot so they said that I should take STEM. I was so confused of what strand
to choose because there are a lot of things that I want to explore and they said that I could not change my
mind anymore once I choose a strand. Then one day, I read a post from ICSB that they are offering GAS
(General Academics) strand. At that moment, I realized that I should take GAS.

Why did I choose GAS? I choose GAS because I believe that GAS is great for students like me
who are still undecided of which track to take. GAS will help me decide what course to take after two
years in Senior High School and for me to be more prepared for college. GAS subjects include
Humanities, Social Sciences, Applied Economics, Organization and Management, and Disaster
Preparedness. You see, in GAS you will be exposed to the four strands under the academic track.
Therefore, it will be more helpful for each of us to know where we excel at and for us to know the
applicable course for us.

In career decision making maturity is a big factor that’s why DepEd implemented the Kto12
program as a preparation for our future. GAS gives the students more flexibility in choosing their
electives. It allows us to be familiarize with different fields of study and be able to choose our career path.
Also, it gives us an idea of what we can do and what we cannot. GAS will give us additional time to
choose what we really want. I believe that when you choose GAS, you are smarter than those people who
choose other strand because you have a wider scope of subjects areas that you may need for tertiary
education.

I know that you’re still in grade 8 now and you’re still far from being a senior high school student,
but guys remember that one day, you will need to decide on what course you will choose. So if I were
you, don’t come to the point wherein you’ll have to think and think of what strand you will take, just take
GAS. This strand will help you to decide on what course to take in college and it will prepare you to have
a better future someday.