I'm a sophomore Pre-Pharmacy major at West Virginia University. Most of my classes have to deal with chemistry or biology, so anything English related is rarely on my mind. This semester i enrolled in a poetry workshop class as a GEC. I figured that I read a little poetry online and thought it wasn't completely boring, so why not take the class? I had also assumed that this class would be just be something to go to and not really have it affect me in anyway. I feel wrong about that assumption now.
In the beginning I really hated it, because it honestly seemed pointless and the material we read appeared to be over-dramatic. It was not a class that I looked forward to going to. I remember calling my mum and saying how much of a mistake it was to take the class because it was so boring and stupid. I really had not given it any chance or tried to understand all that poetry can offer a person. I'm not really sure what the turning point of my opinion was, but I started to get more and more interested in the class as time went on. I started to form different opinions on poems that i would not have before the class. I also began to enjoy writing in general.
We learned that poetry can be a way for an individual to express their feelings. If you're in a bad mood writing your feelings down can be a good way to vent. Poetry let's you use words you wouldn't normally and attempt to allow the reader to feel exactly what you felt at that point in time. It also can make no sense on the first read and somehow hint at something amazing when one looks more into it. It's also awesome, because you don't have to be some amazing writer to write poetry. No one has to read it at all.
I would not have found this new hobby if I had not taken the class in the first place. I also would not have found the joy it brought me if I had kept the same mentality about the class not being related to my major. Giving different classes that have no relation to your major a chance can really help you find something you could be passionate about. Doing this also allows for you to expand your mind. I know that the way I think in a science related class is nothing like how I think during an English course. It gives you the opportunity to exercise both sides of your brain.
