In order to excel and graduate from a college or university, most individuals must garner more than 100 credit hours. Ask any student, and chances are they’ll tell you that the road to graduation can prove to be stressful, tedious, exasperating.
I’ve always believed in education. In fact, I’m an advocate for it. Nevertheless, some of the classes found in certain curriculums prove to be a complete waste of time.
Some people may disagree; that’s fine. After all, every individual is entitled to his or her own opinion.
But, after spending four years in high school, three in middle school and six in elementary, including kindergarten, people may feel a sense of déjà vu in college.
It shouldn’t be required that everyone spend their freshman year learning what’s essentially recycled material. Why not just jump into subject matter students aren’t knowledgeable about since the goal is to learn more about their prospective fields?
For example, what does a biology student need with economics if they plan on dedicating their lives to biological science?
Some people may argue that these courses help to shape students into well-rounded individuals, and that could very well be true. But if a journalism student such as myself fails a mathematics course but gets high scores in all of his or her core classes, does that mean he or she shouldn’t move forward in his or her career?
Every student across the campus is forced to take classes filled with content he or she probably won’t remember the very next year. Unless a professor makes this content interesting, all of the information that was learned from the class probably won’t make it to your graduation date.
On the other hand, since we’re forced to take some of these extra courses, why not have topics geared toward life planning? Too many students have issues with spending money, and they aren’t ready for life after graduation.
With the high costs of tuition, shouldn’t students maximize their reasons for being in college and learn more about their future profession? Instead of two years filled with general studies requirements, one year would suffice.
After all, wouldn’t it be cheaper to just cut out all the fluff and get down to the nitty-gritty?
After college, many of us will be left at the hands of the real world to teach us life’s lessons. With all the money we’re paying and extra classes we’re taking, I can only hope that college has prepared us enough for the hardest lessons to come.
Jay Christie is a junior magazine production student from Tallahassee. He can be reached at jaylenchristie@ aol.com.