The modern college student has to do it all; we're expected to graduate with a high GPA, have a job, join as many clubs as possible, perform a variety of leadership duties, and make our experience the best four years of our lives. We are, definitely, the busiest we have ever been. We are expected to know what we wanna do when we come into school and be on a driven path until we graduate, in four years, with experience in our field. It seems like now more than ever, everyone around me knows what they are going to do when they graduate and spend every minute of their breaks from school working in this field, hoping to increase their chances or working there or studying there after graduation. To understate my feelings about this, it overwhelms me.
I do not know where I want to work when I am done with school, but I do know that I would like to genuinely enjoy all of the classes I take. I am a STEM major who is focusing on acquiring two or three liberal arts minors. Whenever I explain what my plan of study is, people stare at me with highly quizzical looks. "Why?" "Don't you think you should focus on one area?"
No.
I am a firm believer in getting the most out of your education. You spend years of your life, thousands of dollars, and countless minutes stressing on your education. Who says we have to study one thing? Who says we have to stay here four years and four years only? I want to wake up and enjoy my classes everyday, not get burnt out on my major after two excruciatingly hard years of studying solely one subject.
I think our education system has evolved to a point where millennials can have a real advantage and opportunity to take a variety of courses in a large amount of foci. We can be the next generation of well-developed thinkers if we allow ourselves to step out of our comfort zones and take classes that are necessarily "needed" for our major. You aren't great at writing? Take an english class! You have no idea who Plato or Socrates is? Take a philosophy class! Take something fun, for no other reason than the fact that it is fun. There is definitely a benefit to being a well-rounded thinker, not just the most successful thinker in your area.
You don't want to look back on your years in college and wish you had taken this or taken that. The emphasis is placed too much on being the best and not just on having the most experiences possible. We will never be in another situation in our lives where we can learn about anything we want to, where almost any class imaginable is at our disposal. Take advantage of every opportunity you can! Use every minute of college in a way that you won't regret.
