Freshman, sophomores, and juniors alike rushed into the crowded room, sharing chairs and sprawling out on the floor. A hush fell upon the room and all eyes focused forward as the first PowerPoint slide clicked open. On Feb. 10 during eighth period, students visited four fifteen minute information sessions held throughout the school as part of curriculum fair to gain a better understanding of the course offerings and research labs available at TJ.

“I was kind of unsure what classes I wanted to take because I hadn’t fulfilled my history credit, so I had a lot of scheduling conflicts,” junior Stephanie Do said. “And I was interested in seeing all the options TJ had to offer.”

Many students had ideas about what they wanted to take, and used the fair as a time to learn more about the classes being offered.

“I was pretty set on what I wanted to take before the fair, but I thought it helped me decide my final schedule and answered some questions I had about classes,” sophomore Katie Zhang said.

Other students had questions about course information such as a class’s focus or difficulty level.

“Before the fair, I was unsure about a lot of things such as how challenging courses would actually be and their homework loads,” freshman Shihao Cao said. “After the fair, I had a good grasp of what I was signing up for and knew more about the courses beyond their description online.”

However more time to explore classes could have benefitted Jefferson students, especially for classes that only offered one information session.

“I would’ve liked it if some sessions had more session times. For example, there was only one Artificial Intelligence session so the room was packed,” Zhang said.

But overall, the fair was an effective way for students confirm their plans for next year and answer any lingering questions, helping underclassmen and juniors alike plan for the school year ahead.

“It was cool being able to see all the different classes, and I’m glad it was so loosely structured so that we could just show up to any class we wanted to. [The sessions] were pretty informational, and I got a good gauge of how much work a class would be, and what would be taught,” Do said.