Man, is this topic close to home. Not because I'm in college, but because college has been the most difficult self-discovering journey in my life. And that's saying something. It's supposed to be a time where you take classes and find yourself, but I feel like I have been so bogged down by taking classes that don't feel particularly relevant to me. Just because I have to. Because an antiquated system told me it's necessary to make me "well-rounded". What does that even mean?!
How does taking Survey of Jazz or World of Dinosaurs or Severe Weather or Language of Color diversify a person? I understand the necessity of taking basic classes (math, writing, science) those classes make a person intelligent and provide them with applicable skills. But forcing students to take classes that in no way that apply to them just seems entirely greedy on the University's part.
I've changed my major a couple times. And by a couple, I mean 5 or 6. From social work to performing arts to sign language minors, entrepreneurship, journalism, and now strategic communication. My oh my. How I feel like I've wasted my time. Because I spent so long taking general education courses that I didn't have TIME to take courses that were interesting to me so I could really delve into my interests. Then I had to take the irrelevant pre-requisites of each major just to be able to declare it.
Which leads me to where I am right now. In a major I'm not so sure about, taking very general courses, just to fill requirements. I recognize that this is, in part, of my own choosing. But I'm in my fourth year of college, and still have about a year left of classes I need to take to finish my major.
I don't know if the problem is that the degree requirements are too generic, or if we're not well-enough instructed on how to formulate a plan, but I'm a senior and still utterly lost. It's overwhelming. I have every intention of graduating in my current major. Because I can't afford to stay in school any longer, and, frankly, I'm schooled out.
I think the create-your-own-major program is a great solution to this problem, but it seems like I'm too far along to adapt my degree to that. I wish I had a better solution to this dilemma, so that I didn't just rant aimlessly for the last 350 words, but the short of it is this: I wish general education courses offered were more necessary, and more directly associated with majors. Each major should have specific gen. ed. requirements that correlate directly. Some majors do that, but not all. And it's overwhelming.
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