At least once in your life, you're probably going to have that one class in college where you literally ask yourself everyday, "Why am I even here?" Seriously, some Gen Ed classes seemed like they were needed in theory, but once you've been in there for a few weeks you start realizing you already know the stuff and the class seems kinda ridiculous. This happened to me this first semester with my Oral Communication class. I mean, don't get me wrong, it taught me a lot about how to communicate with people when I'm public speaking; but like there's only so much they can drag on about oral communication, you know? Although the class started to seem mundane, looking back, it taught me a lot more than just oral communication.
I learned that people aren't as judgmental as they seem. This class was all about giving speeches in front of people who, at the beginning, I didn't know. Through Oral Comm, I've met some of the least judgmental people ever. I think it's because we all were pretty much in the same boat. We were all scared to go up there and get graded for how well we talked, that's kinda harsh. So, since no one wanted to be judged, they weren't judgmental to me or the other people in class.
I learned that a friendship really does just start with hello. Sometimes in class we would have to do group work, which made us actually have to get up and find people to work with. This was very awkward in the beginning of the semester, especially since literally none of us in the class really knew each other. The cool thing is though, that some of the people who I had to go randomly say hey to and work on group with are now some really good friends of mine. Personally, I have a group who, after class, goes to eat lunch together and talk about Oral Comm or our day or even our life in general. Although the class will be ending soon, we still plan to meet for lunch during interterm and next semester.
I learned that even if a class is kinda lame, that doesn't mean you can't have fun with it. Later in the semester, when we all got really comfortable with one another, we really started to make our own fun with the class. We encourage each other before speeches, we're able to laugh and joke around with one another, or we even plan things to do after the class if over (like our lunches).
All in all, if you do have an obnoxious class that you would rather not be at, look on the bright side of things. Who are the people in your class who've you made friends with? Isn't that awesome that the class kinda brought you together? I know Oral Comm has for me, and for that I will forever be grateful for.
