A "Young" View...

I have to admit something. I am graduating in May and am still finishing general education requirements. I was sitting in Geology class one day and thought, "Is it better to take general education classes your first few years of college, or is it beneficial to wait and take a few each year?"

For some who are not sure what they want to study long-term or have as a career post-college, taking generals in the beginning is imperative to help them figure out what they like or do not like. General education classes are meant to create a well-rounded student so that students at least have a general knowledge base and appreciation for multiple disciplines.

Of course not everyone wants to be a musician or a scientist, but for people to have intelligent conversations about various subject matters, we need to gain knowledge on a range of subjects. Also, many of these general courses tie in together.

For example, I took Introduction to Literature last semester. My professor made the class extremely fun and often compared much of what we read and discussed to movies, songs and modern examples. My point is that everything can relate to something else. William Shakespeare wrote about issues that are still important in society today such as war, love and politics.

We use equations we learn in biology and chemistry to solve real-life problems at times, even when we do not realize it. It might be nerdy but whenever I pass a semi-truck on the interstate, I still think about the differences in pressure that occur when my car passes the truck. Thank you, science class!

If anything, it is important to take these general classes to help others, perhaps specifically our children. My aunt will sometimes call me to see if I can help my younger niece with some of her homework. By educating ourselves now, we can help future generations as well.

Since I knew I wanted to be a business major, I started taking some business classes my first year at ISU rather than just general classes.  That now leaves me in my last semester here with one upper-level business course and a few general classes. I enjoy talking with the freshmen and sometimes helping them find their way around campus or suggesting future classes to them. Since I know a lot of the people in my business classes by this point, with general classes, it is a fun way to make new friends with diverse majors.

Also since I am taking generals now, the workload is slightly lighter (compared to my capstone classes in business) or at least a little less difficult in my opinion, so I can focus on my post-graduation goals now.

All in all, general education classes are fun and important to become a better student. You just have to go into each class with the intent to learn something new, interesting and relevant to your own course of study.

Princess Young is a senior majoring in Business Management.