Coming from a family of software engineers, I can find no way to avoid taking computer science courses in college. While I intend to pursue degrees in Economics and International Relations, my mother has already made it clear to me that I will bring shame to the family if I don’t learn to code in college. Given that I now have more free time than usual during my second semester of senior year, I have decided to get a head start on my mom’s demands by signing up for an AP Computer Science course on udemy.com.

Udemy is a great resource that provides free, extensive educational material on topics such as artificial intelligence to graphic designs. While I am still currently in the midst of my online class, I can already say that all Freedom students would benefit from using Udemy to learn a new skill. One complaint that I often hear from students, including myself, is that there simply isn’t enough space in our schedule to take all of the courses we are interested in. Luckily, in our day and age where the internet is just filled with educational resources, we can learn everything and anything on our own after school.

Now, I know what you may be thinking: why would you come back from a long day of school and learn organic chemistry online, while also trying to complete your homework due the next day? I’m not necessarily advocating for taking strictly academic courses online, as I believe there is great value in exploring graphic design, illustration, video editing, music composition and other creative means. I have often found that taking time out of my day to express my creativity through several different mediums is stress-reducing and advantageous to overall mental health.

While I understand that we are all so busy during the school year, I at least hope that you make an attempt to expand your knowledge through online learning over the summer.