General education, in recent years, has come across as a useless endeavor. However, it may have more use than previously thought, being a great source to discover what you want to major in or find something you love doing. The benefits general education provides is unlimited. So don't be afraid of those general education courses and embrace what you're trying to reject; you may be surprised at what you discover.
1. Good all around experience
The one thing general education provides is a good experience base. It helps potential employers understand that the people coming out of college are well versed in different areas of education. The employers can see that the particular individual can calculate numbers accurately, write a well formatted sentence and have the ability to work with others in different environments. I understand some classes may be difficult, but that is the point of the classes. To get you to think differently and exercise your mind in new ways.
2. Opens you up to new ideas
One of the main benefits of general education, that I have discovered personally over the years, is that it opens the mind to new things and ideas that I would have previously not thought of. For instance, I took a theater class, a piano class and a linguistics course. The one thing all of these have in common is that they opened me up to new experiences and ideas. When I first took the classes I couldn't see how they benefited me in any way, but now I realize all of the general education classes I have taken have evolved me into a better individual with an arsenal of new ideas and experiences to take on the world.
3. Great for networking
You never know who you will meet in one of your general education classes. You could meet the next CEO of a huge firm, a future professional athlete, singer, president or anything else. The people you could meet are endless and with each new friend your contact base grows. This could help you get a job, build a business or anything else you've dreamed of doing. Talk to people and build your contacts so your network of people you know grows bigger every day. Professors are also a great way to network. They are already professionals and may know someone that could help you or can help you out themselves. Professors are there to help, don't be afraid to talk to them and ask questions, you may be surprised by how general education teachers can help your future.
4. Discover a love interest
Love is hard to come across and sometimes you may not find the right person in your major courses. That's where general education comes in. During general education, like stated above, you never know who you will meet and one of those people could be your future husband/wife. The benefits are that you can meet people outside of your intended major and your future love interest may not be in the same field as you, but that can be a good thing! It gives you something different to discuss and helps spark that first conversation that could lead to much bigger and grander things between the two of you.
5. Finding a major or career
I, for one, did not intend to major and fall in love with English. Originally I intended to major in Kinesiology, but that changed when I took my first class. I discovered that just because I enjoyed exercising doesn't mean that I want to learn about it and major in it. At this time I didn't enjoy English, that was until I took a general education English course. My professor was amazing and taught in a way that made me understand and enjoy English. However, instead of embracing the subject, I kept rejecting it and took other general education science classes thinking that's where I belonged. Eventually, I finally embraced it and if it wasn't for that initial general education English class I would never have found what I wanted to major in.
6. Discovering yourself
Going into college I thought I was only good at sports and nothing else. It made me question why I was in college and doubted the usefulness of general education classes that are required to take. After taking some general education classes, I started to get an idea of what I was about and excelled in areas I previously thought I had no talent or interest in. My piano class got me into music and three years later I am still playing, my communications class helped me get out of my shy bubble and I found out I actually enjoy talking in front of people; I'm also better at it than I thought. The list goes on, but all of these general education classes, ranging from music to math, helped me discover a little piece of myself. All of this lead to finding out who I wanted to become as a person and what role I wanted to play in the future. I have general education to thank everything I have evolved into.