So here I am- sitting in my philosophy class as I write this article and think to myself, "Why am I writing this article during my philosophy class?" I mean, you see it all the time in the classes that don't pertain to your major at all but you gotta take it anyways-- students screwing around on their laptops instead of actually listening to the lecture.
It's no secret that I dislike general education courses. I mean sure, they're great GPA boosters- but think about all the other things or maybe even other classes that you could take that pertain to your major if you didn't have to fill a part of your schedule so that you can fulfill that English or Theology credit (quick s/o to my private school homies that have to take theology and philosophy).
Maybe if most people had a different, more positive attitude about these classes then I wouldn't be writing this article while in class. However, it's really hard to become passionate about a class that you really don't need for your major especially when everyone calls it a blow-off class and a poor excuse to relax from your typical major-related classes. It most especially doesn't help when the professor takes the course way too seriously and assigns endless amount of busy work to make up for the lack of attention paid in class.
I love the idea of being a "well-rounded" student, however, I feel that the gen eds that I'm taking currently really aren't doing much to help make me become a well-rounded student. I mean, if they really wanted to help prepare us to go out into the adult world after college, it'd be nice to have a class on how to do taxes or a class on how to build credit the right way.
When I think of horrible gen ed memories, I think of the two English classes I took during my freshman year. (Keep in mind, all four years of high school I LOVED English. I mean, I missed writing so much that I ended up here at The Odyssey so that definitely says something.) However, when I encountered these two classes, I did not want anything more than just to leave. These classes made me despise everything about English. One, I bought a $135 textbook first semester that we did not even use, however the professor stated "you'll probably use it second semester, so don't return it". Guess what? We didn't use it.
The point is, I find general education courses pretty useless. If you don't, more power to you! If you're in the same boat as me, you could probably relate to this whole article. Push through those classes- sure they're blow-offs, but don't blow them off so they tank your GPA. As stated earlier, they're GPA boosters- so go ahead and 4.0 the hell outta that class.