Photo by Svetlana Pochatun on Unsplash
Taking sixteen credit hours a semester can be overwhelming, especially when they’re all required courses in order to graduate in four years. This is especially true for freshmen whose schedules only consist of gen-eds and “weed-out” courses. These freshman don’t even get to their major courses until their sophomore or junior years in college. Now imagine taking another three-credit course and bumping up to a nineteen-credit schedule. What if I told you that if you do, this semester is about to get a whole lot easier?
Everyone needs time for themselves; it makes life easier. A few hours a week doing something enjoyable will help ease the burden of academics, money, and work. Here’s an opportunity that’s included in flat-rate tuition, basically free, where students can learn more about anything that interests them. Courses like pilates, beginning guitar, astronomy, beginning drawing, history of comic books, beginning ceramics, and glee club are offered at most public universities.
Taking some “me time” by going into the pottery studio Sunday night or getting an early Monday and Wednesday morning yoga session in could be the much needed break that students don’t know they have the option of taking. A lot of these classes are listed as “physical education” or “performance-based activities” and don’t show up as options when students plan their next semester schedules. These include but aren’t limited to: yoga, sketching, weight lifting, pottery and painting. The best part about these courses? There is no grade.
If the course requires a pre-requisite or is for majors only, don’t give up! A quick email to the instructor expressing interest is a sure way to get in. Most of these courses can help students graduate by filling in the gaps of their major requirements check sheets as a free elective, artistic forms, non-western culture or science course. Appreciate rocks? Take geology. Love the stars? Take astronomy. Here is a set time every week that students are required to attend, make time for themselves and get credit for it.