Sitting in my Geology 101 class, first week of winter quarter in my junior year-yes I said junior year- I came to the realization that going over how sedimentary rocks are formed is NOT what I should be thinking about. If you’re an upperclassman who has put off one or more of your gen-eds you fully understand the epiphany that this was. Realizing how absolutely useless this information was to my future was hard to swallow. The even harder one though was realizing I didn’t have a choice on sitting through this class or try to motivate myself to be there. I opted to spread out my gen-eds beginning of my freshman year. I thought having an “easy class” every quarter was something my future self would thank me for. Well let me be the first to say I was very, very wrong. Instead of reading my Business Law book every day, I find myself spending more studying time trying to figure out how to work the Pearson Mylab review workshop for geology. My point being: I should be spending my time on classes that really matter right now. When we are freshman or even sophomores, we should take advantage of the limitless options (and free time) we have for gen-eds. Those years are meant to help guide us to what our interests are and how we can turn those into a career someday. Junior and senior year are when the classes you’re taking every day actually mean something.
I hate to admit it but I really do like spending the time in the library or lectures to learn things that will actually apply to my future. It may have taken awhile, but I do really like going to lectures and major classes. No these aren’t easy classes by any means, but they mean something to me. I want to succeed, so making the effort to read the textbook or go the extra mile in office hours is no big deal. What I’ve come to realize is that I spend more time stressing about my gen ed geology and the lab for it than I ever would have a year or two ago. Now that I’ve figured out what direction I want to go in as far as my career, I really do want to make the time I have to study worth it. I want to focus on those subjects I know will pay off someday soon. Knowing I’m taking time from my busy schedule to read for a ten question quiz when I could be getting ahead in lecture notes for my business communications class is a hard pill to swallow after hour two in the library.
So, to my oh-so-optimistic past self, I urge you to really consider getting your gen eds covered as soon as possible. Make the classes you’re interested in, ones that can help guide you to a profession I hope you’ll one day love. But for goodness sake, no, you will not want to be the junior in a class full of freshman,because I promise you, it will not be your “easy” class.