The Power of GEs (General Education)

Most of the students in college view their general education requirement as an inconvenience, if not a total waste of time. I too have been guilty of it. I took classes like Greek Mythology and Art History in my freshman year. Being a computer science major, I never really enjoyed these GE classes. I did them only because I was required to. I never really showed interest until I realized the benefits of these classes.

My advice is to change your attitude towards GEs. While it’s practical to view college as a place where you accumulate your minimum number of units to begin a chosen career, you’re limiting your long term potential if you don’t take complete advantage of the learning opportunities provided by the general education curriculum by your college. Everybody learns the technical skills required for a job. After all, your core major classes prepare you for this. But your general college education can teach you many critical life skills which are not easy to learn otherwise. These GE classes help you think creatively, articulate concepts clearly, evaluate ideas systematically and collaborate productively. They also teach you to read closely and force you to be resourceful.

There are long-term learning opportunities in almost every class you take. For my Asian American Pop Culture class, I had a 6 page paper due on Edward Said’s Orientalism. It was a topic I had very little knowledge about. Initially I found it difficult to even write one paragraph leave alone 6 pages. Most would not consider this to be an exciting assignment, and the material may sound useless after college. But you must look at the bigger picture. This assignment provides perfect practice for learning how to persuasively present dry material as interesting and significant.

By reframing your perspective you can convert a “useless” assignment to a long-term growth opportunity. My Intro to Environmental Science class material was really difficult for me to grasp in the beginning. I always enjoyed studying material which would enhance my problem solving skills or make me think analytically and I thought this course would just not be able to offer me this. I struggled in this class, until my motivation was fueled by a statement my professor made in one of the lectures. She said, “This class will make you all better conversationalists on a dinner table.” I realized that gaining knowledge about any field helps you become a well rounded person.

So, do not shy away from GEs, embrace them. By capitalizing on these ever-present learning opportunities, you’ll be way happier during college and way better prepared for your long career ahead.