If you’re a fan of Katniss Everdeen, Hawkeye, Legolas or Apollo, you’ll probably enjoy taking PACT 300, also known as Archery. In this class, students learn how to aim and shoot a bow and arrow at targets from varying distances, testing their skills along the way with tournaments. “We just did the 20-yard tournament, we’ll have the 30-yard tournament in a couple weeks,” said Doug Jumelet, one of the two archery professors. But neither Jumelet nor Joline Matsunami, the other archery professor, grades you on your skills. The course’s one unit is earned solely by your attendance. The archery shed, located behind the gym, is equipped with plenty of bows for the students to borrow, but they must purchase their own six aluminum arrows. However, at only around $26, these arrows are much cheaper and far more fun to use than your average textbook. Since the class counts toward your physical education graduation requirements, Archery is the perfect class to take for the stressed-out American River College student who just wants to learn a new skill and have some fun at the same time.

“I was always interested in trying archery. I don’t know if it was a part of it, but I’ve seen it in anime and always wanted to give it a shot, so when I found out it was offered at ARC I couldn’t pass up the chance.” – Tristan Burns.

“You’d be surprised how much fun it is and how competitive people get with just shooting and trying to get better. The class is really social. You get to talk to people, meet people, it’s a lot of fun that way and it’s a good time shooting. And people do it after they leave the class, they continue doing it. We have a lot of people that it kinda opens their eyes to how much fun it is and they continue doing it after they’re done here.” – Doug Jumelet