If you were at Bob Jones last year or any of the previous years, then you probably know the term “Patriot Path.” Patriot Path was the highlight of most people’s week, an hour to themselves to hang out with friends in a classroom they had chosen earlier in the week. But after a while, we got Patriot Path taken away. That was a sad, sad time. However, the good news is that this year brings something new, and dare I say, even better than Patriot Path: Patriot Prep!
People are always going to have their opinions on which is better. According to a survey I made, 36 people prefer Patriot Prep to Patriot Path. Patriot Path would give you less freedom. Once you picked your class, you were stuck there; you couldn’t wander around, and most importantly if the rooms were full and you hadn’t picked a room to be in, you had detention for that period of time. But with Patriot Prep you have a lot more freedom; you can go where you want, it’s a longer amount of time for lunch, in my opinion, the only downside is the days you have flex and have to sit in Advisory for 25 minutes and do the tasks assigned to your grade level.
Multiple people have said that during Patriot Prep, they sit in the Band hallway, the cafeteria, the staircases, and some people even said there is nowhere to sit. There were also complaints about the long lines, how crowded it is, and even how hot it is because people are everywhere. People also complained about Patriot Path. You could only stay in one place, it was only for one day, and it was hard to sign up on time, and if you forgot, all the good ones would be taken.
A Junior here at Bob Jones, Chris Vu said that they preferred Patriot Path, they said “Patriot Path was a really fun time to explore hobbies by yourself or with friends. Honestly, it was the highlight of my week at times where it was still available.”. All of that is true, it was definitely the highlight of a lot of people’s week, and it was fun to explore hobbies and try new things.
Either way, it feels good to have that freedom. I think Patriot Path was okay, but it’s nice to be able to do what you want for about an hour every day, it’s time to catch up with your friends and finish homework or even roam around the school. Though it causes room for more chaos around the school, I think it was a great and fair replacement for Patriot Path.
