Everyone that has either already attended college, or is currently in college knows the three most dreaded words: general education requirement. General education classes are the ones that you are forced to fit into your schedule in the beginning of your college career in order to graduate.
As a student that enjoys learning, and as a future teacher, I do see the benefit of taking your basic general education classes such as math, English, and a foreign language, however, I think it should only be a basic level. As a future early childhood educator, I should not need to take an advanced scientific reasoning class in order to graduate. How is this going to help me teach students from Preschool through second grade?
Registering and attending classes that you are not interested in can be so frustrating. Trying to find the motivation to study for a class that you know you will never have to use again can be so hard. When I sign up for general education classes, I honestly feel that I am signing up for a class in order to check something of my “to- do list” rather than really picking a class that I will find useful and interesting. In fact, many professors know this, and will even refer to their class as “just a gen ed class”. This is sad. Students should have one or two general education requirements, and then be able to move on and focus on their classes for their chosen major. Instead, some schools like mine have so many general education requirements, which can end up holding you back from taking all the classes that you have to take for your major, and therefore, keep students from graduating in just four years.
While some general education classes are important, and will help prepare students for their future career, and even life in general, there are also many general education requirements that simply seem like a waste of money and time. I love my major, and I love the classes that I have to take for my major. I would much rather be taking classes that really interest me, rather than picking classes just to check them off a list.
