Last semester I took French 1230, a continuing French language course. It was the next and last step to completing my language requirement for Arts and Sciences as well as a great opportunity to expand on my newfound love of French. I had never taken French before coming to Cornell and had never intended to do so until a trip to France in the spring of 2009 changed my opinion of French completely. So I was excited for 1230.
That excitement lasted all of two weeks.
The class was horrible! At first I thought that it was just me being ridiculous. Maybe subconsciously I just didn’t like all the work that was necessary for the class. Just as I had convinced myself that if I just waited a little longer I’d love it again, others began to talk about how much they hated the class too. In fact everyone in my class began to bond over how much we hated the class. We had lunches and dinners dedicated to venting about how bad the textbook was, how weird the teacher seemed to be, and how unstructured the class as a whole was. But we all needed this class for our language requirement. So this brings us to the question: what do you do when you don’t like a class but you need to take it?
Get it Over With or Forget About it?
The answer for some is to keep going with it. “Just get it over with,” says Ben ’13, “If you need the class then just stay and try to find something that will help you get through the class. You never know you might get something out of it.” This method works well if the class is something you know you can do well in if you put in some extra time and effort. But for other students this isn’t the best way to deal with the problem. Rachel ’13 has her own solution, “If you aren’t ready to take the class then you just aren’t ready. Give it some time to figure out when you are mentally able to give your all to the class. I’ve dropped a class I loved because I knew that I couldn’t give my all to it. It’s the same for classes you don’t like. Why take the hit on your GPA if you think that taking it at another time would give you a better chance for a better grade?”
Even professors have their own opinions on the subject. During my first lecture of my Government course my professor told the class, “This course is difficult and it is meant to be difficult. If you do not like this class and are not willing to dedicate your time to this class then I would prefer for you to drop this course now than to waste my time and your classmates’ time.” While this introduction to the world of International Politics seemed a bit snippy at the time (he was a nice guy, I swear), looking back at that statement I now realize that he had a point. Professors spend a lot of time writing up lectures and presentations and to go to a class that you aren’t willing to care about is kind of disrespectful to the professor.
My history professor agrees but has a different reason for it. “I don’t want you to take my class just because you need it,” he says, “I want you to take this class because you want to. I want is a class full of people engaged in the subject matter. If you are all there because you have to be then you are less likely to be engaged or to care.” But of course this isn’t all about the man or woman at the front of the room, this is about you. So with that said, you have a few options:
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You can stick with the class and try to find something about it to get you through the semester
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You can delay the class until you are ready for it
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If at all possible you can find another class that fills the requirement. This is Cornell and there are tons of classes out there. “Any person…any study” remember?
I’m sure you can figure out other options but whatever you choose, make sure it’s right for you. This is your college experience and your grades we’re talking about here. I can tell you what others think until I am blue in the face but ultimately the decision is yours to make.
Sources
Ben ‘13
Rachel ‘13
Prof. Peter Katzenstein (Government)
History professor