General Education Requirements are treated like they are your little sibling that you HAVE to take everywhere you go. They take up space, require an explanation when your friends ask why you had to take them and in general feel like a loss of freedom.
For most people, Gen Eds are a "waste of time" and they get in the way of classes pertinent towards your major. But why do Gen Eds exist? Everyone hears the "they are to widen your educational borders" or "they are to help you find what you want to study for the rest of your life" speeches at orientation. When I heard these speeches I thought "they just want to give us filler classes so they can collect another year of tuition."
But this year, I learned what General Education Requirements are really for: to help you find interests outside of your major and for you to become a well-rounded student. While I would love to learn in all the political science and journalism classes, there exists a world of interesting subjects outside my major.
This year I realized that some of the topics learned in Gen Eds can carry over into your major. For example, I took an Environmental Science Course this summer to fulfill a requirement. I thought I would never hear the terms "Tragedy of the Commons" or "freeriding" again. But then my politics class came around and I heard all the terms all over again! I was two steps ahead of my fellow classmates.
We cannot just be classroom carbon copies. What I mean by that is we can not function in society by just talking about journalism or political science theories. This is most obvious when people ask us what we do outside of the classroom. There is a reason interviewers ask that. Companies do not want to hire people that are a walking syllabus; they want well rounded individuals that are passionate about a wide variety of things. We will meet people at mixers and galas that will be amazed to know that we are 19th century poetry enthusiasts or have an interest in the cosmos. We become more well rounded and people will love us for that.
When you look at your Gen Ed requirement list do not see it as a "get it over with" check list. See it as an opportunity to learn more. There will never be another time in your life when you will have the opportunity to learn about marine biology, art history, or Buddhism! You might even find a passion that will stick with you for the rest of your life.
