Before you come to college, you plan to take all the classes that you hear are vital to being a college student like philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology... must I name more? But once you're in school, you become so focused on pursuing your major and career goals that you forget to take the classes that remind you of why you came to college in the first place. And along with this we become jaded by those around us who say , "Don't take that class, its impossible" or "This class is an easy A" or "I am only taking this because it satisfies two requirements".
When did college turn to always taking the easy way out. I know that beating the curve is tough and getting that high GPA is important but what will you get out of your experience if all you remember from college is taking your requirements.
Before you graduate college, hear are some classes that you need to take before you leave:
1. Psychology
The study of the human mind and behavior. Almost in nutshell, psychology can teach you how people think, why they think that way, and what they are going to do next. It is one of those classes where the introductory level can give you so much information in such a short amount of time. And the thing about psychology is that if you never take the class, you never truly learn to understand it.
2. Philosophy
Philosophy is often bluffed as an easy class but what is easy about describing thought and human existence? Yeah, it doesn't sound so easy anymore. Not only is it a class that can only be taught to it's best extent in college, but the best audience to understand the concepts from Descartes and Plato are college students. The class will provide understanding of the way the world and create a more objective perspective to life.
3. Neuroscience
I am sorry if this scared some of you away, but by far, taking this class was one of the best experiences I have ever had in college. This subject is challenging no doubt but the range and scope that you learn about the little things that make the human brain work are incredible pieces of knowledge that you couldn't learn or take seriously in high school. Neuroscience makes you work HARD so if you are not ready for that, take it pass/fail. But learning and understanding neuroscience is a very rewarding experience to have in college, even if its the introductory course.
4. Economics
To be honest, if you never take an Economics course, you will never understand the job market. Not only is this class very informative but it is very central to the topics that still plague our society today. We often avoid taking even the introductory level of Econ because of its difficulty but its application to the real world is much more impactful than people realize. And when you finish, you will finally understand what equity and efficiency truly mean.
5. International Relations
Why is this country treating it's people this way? Why can't we help those people? Why are we at war? All these questions can be identified by taking a few international relations courses. Taking international relations will help you in so many ways. You will become more worldly and socially aware of what it feels like to live in your country compared to others but you will also understand why problems in your country and other countries can't be solved so easily. In a way, it can be kind of melancholic to take a course that identifies all the problems in the country but definitely evolves you into thinking of how fortunate your life turned out to be.
