Hayato (left) & Awa (right)

Two StreetSquash ninth graders are currently enrolled in rigorous pre-college academic courses at Columbia University, where each student attends a two-hour session once per week.

Awa S. is enrolled in a constitutional law course, while Hayato I. is in a business and economics class. 

“I’m thinking about being a lawyer and that’s why I took this class,” Awa said. “It’s a good opportunity to see if I really want to do this.”

There will be a total of 10 sessions, but Awa is still at the beginning of her journey having been to only three classes at the time of this article. 

So far Awa has learned about The Commerce Clause during the Great Depression, The Civil Rights Act and other cases concerning laws that were challenged at the Supreme Court. 

“The classes are mostly discussion based and the teacher tries to keep us engaged,” Awa said. “We also do a lot of group work so we can discuss with each other our ideas.”

She says the group discussions bring her a lot of value.

“I get to see other people’s perspectives,” Awa said. “If I think something is constitutional, and someone else thinks it isn’t, I get a new perspective on why it’s not.” 

But perhaps the most valuable lesson Awa has learned so far, and thankfully very quickly, has nothing to do with constitutional law.

“When they say something is ‘optional reading,’ it’s not really optional,” Awa said. 

Meanwhile, Hayato aspires to be an entrepreneur. He is also early in his course having also attended three of 10 total courses. 

To date, he’s learned about the mindset of customers. 

“We’re learning about what a customer needs, what they’re willing to do to get it,” Hayato said. “It’s mostly business but it’s a bit psychological. We’re getting into how does the customer think? It’s been very interesting and very engaging.” 

Hayato has also partnered with three other classmates to create an imaginary business to help students in high school and college better manage their time to take some stress off their shoulders.

“We’re definitely learning from each other because each one of us has something new to offer to the team,” Hayato said. “We’re all taking advantage of each other’s skills.” 

Hayato says the class provides a lot of videos followed by discussions. 

“It’s very collaborative,” Hayato said. “I’m enjoying it a lot.”