Required ‘gen ed’ classes really do matter
While it may not seem like it at first, there really is an important purpose behind each course you take in college.
The BG Perspectives classes, or “gen eds” as they are more commonly referred to, tend to cause eye-rolls all across campus.
They may just seem like required credits (natural sciences, cultural diversity, humanities), but I’ve found that if you give the classes a chance, you can actually gain a lot from them.
I’ve found that I have been able to apply a lot of what I learned in perspective courses to other things I encounter in college.
I was just thinking about my classes the other day when I realized that everything I’m currently learning is fitting together surprisingly well.
The course that I’m taking for my major and minor have us learning about media effects and popular culture.
They both talk about what culture is and how we have created our own cultures in society.
In my music class we are learning about popular music vs world music and how each are defined by their culture.
This relates to my history class as well, in which we are learning about how ancient civilizations had different practices and traditions (including musical performances) that allowed them to define their cultural identities.
And how does all of this relate to my statistics class?
Well we’re are learning about how to take an accurate sample and how to get an idea of an entire population’s opinions, which relates back to my media effects class and how we calculate media’s effect on society!
Was that too hard to follow? Probably.
Well, basically what I’m trying to say is that perspective courses can end up having more meaning than you might think.
I’m not majoring in music, history or statistics.
However, I’ve found that these classes are teaching me things that relate to my major and have also given me knowledge that will be helpful to me in many years to come.