It’s 9.35 am. You’re running through the halls as fast as you can and slide into your seat, hoping the professor won’t notice that you’re late (of course the parking was terrible, why did you think waking up 15 minutes late would be okay?) Once you finally settle in, you look to the front of the room and think, “Why am I even here?”
The answer is one of two reasons: it’s a class you need for your major, or it’s fluff. You would think a fluff class would be one you want to take that’s not to further your education, just to enjoy. Of course, enjoyment isn’t a part of education anymore, so it’s probably a course your university is forcing on you because it’s important to know how to dissect when you want to be an actress. Except it’s not.
A lot of the general education requirements are classes none of us will use, and yet here we are, wasting away years, and thousands of dollars, on a math class you’re going to barely pass. Do I need to know the square root of pi? No. If you already speak a second language, should you have to take another one? No. And what in the hell is freshman seminar? Because I took that class and I can definitively say it taught me nothing and most days my teacher didn’t show up. And yet all of these classes are mandatory.
Now, I know some skills are ones that we need to hone, but that doesn’t mean I should have to be in a biology class as an English major, and Biology majors shouldn’t need to take a writing class. I understand that biology majors need to know how to write, but when was the last time you read a book report from a scientist?
I think to make “gen eds” contribute to your major more, they should be more inclusive. For the biology major in need of a writing credit, there should be a “Science Writing” course that teaches you how to write a scientific paper. This could count as a Science and English course, so that English majors who need a science credit can take that too.
I am terrible at math and science. The second I finish those classes, I’m going to forget everything I learned. The only thing that will last from those courses is the effect on my GPA, which won’t be good.
In addition, lab is mandatory. Taking lab is like taking a whole extra course, but I’m only getting extra credit. I’m doing twice the work for 1 credit. That is literally the worst bargain buy ever. You wouldn’t go to the store and pay the price of two cartons of eggs for one carton and one extra egg, so why am I expected to do twice the work for a third of the credits?
I pour thousands of dollars into William Paterson University every year, and the more classes I take, the more money they give. I understand that most colleges do gen eds, but I don’t have the money to take a whole year of extra classes for no reason. It doesn’t make any sense.
Every general education course I’ve taken in college, I’ve also taken in high school, so why am I still doing this? I guess I really want a degree, or else I would have walked away a long time ago.
