This week, I will be registering for senior-year classes.
Gulp.
I’m suddenly wondering whether I should have picked up more marketable skills, or had more fun, or challenged myself, or all of the above.
But there’s still time. If you’re like me, you want to get the most out of your senior year. Here are a few suggestions for planning your last fall semester ever.
Get active: The School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation offers fun classes that help you burn off $2 Tuesdays (or learn new mad skills). HPER-E100: Experience in Physical Activity might sound like a boring gym class, but you can actually choose from dynamic topics like Hip Hop dance and Pilates.
You can also get your Survivorman on with classes offered in partnership with IU Outdoor Adventures.
Dustin Smucker, the leisure programs coordinator for Outdoor Adventures, teaches HPER-O113: Backpacking, which he said is designed for students who are new to the activity. “Typically, by the end of the course students are comfortable backpacking on their own in the future,” Smucker says.
Express yourself: IU has one of the top music schools in the country, as well as a prestigious art school and nationally recognized creative writing program. Nothing should hold you back from exploring your creative side.
Though its stellar reputation can make it seem intimidating, the Jacobs School of Music offers several ways for non-majors to discover their untapped musical talents. Try MUS-L101: Beginning Guitar, MUS-P110: Beginning Piano or V101: Voice Class to up the ante from air guitar and singing in the shower. If you’re more of a listener, try one of the history classes, such as Z401: The Music of the Beatles.
For visual art, fine arts academic advisor Sue Miller recommends FINA-N110: Introduction to Studio Art and N130: Digital Imagery for Non-Majors. The former is a classic art class, focusing on painting, drawing and sculpture. The latter caters to amateur techies and photographers by demonstrating how Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator can help create digital artwork, not just graphics.
If you’re looking to improve your writing skills in a nurturing environment, check out the creative writing department. ENG-W103: Introduction to Creative Writing lets you choose to study poetry, fiction or both, with discussion sections for peer review and individual attention. Choose W203 : Creative Writing if you’ve got more experience under your belt.
Sharpen those tech skills: You might have an “A” in social media, but employers look for more than the ability to tweet with one hand. CSCI-A110: Intro to Computers and Computing offers a survey of marketable computer skills, including Microsoft Word, Excel and Access as well as HTML and CSS. A partner service project puts you in a competition to create the best website redesign for a local nonprofit organization.
Balance your budget: Besides job searching, one of the scariest aspects of graduation is the thought of being completely financially independent. BUS-F260: Personal Finance is designed to teach skills like cash management, taxes, retirement planning, investing, insurance and credit management. Sound complicated? Rest assured – Professor Walter Koon says the class is “particularly for students who have little to no background in finance or any intention of taking additional business courses.” Score one for this English major!
This list doesn’t even scratch the surface. IU is a large university with hundreds of course offerings, so do some exploring. Whether it’s Beginning Tai Chi or Women in Literature, you’re sure to find a class you will never want to skip—even when the senioritis hits.