I graduated high school in the spring of 2009, wanting to
attend college for the sole purpose of playing collegiate baseball. I didn't
receive any scholarship opportunities, so I spent the summer of 2009 trying out
for several different schools. It was one stressful summer, as all my friends
had already committed to universities and spent their time partying. Yet I was
in a race against time, deciding what school I should pick. It wasn't till
early August that I decided to choose San Francisco State because I figured I
had the best possible chance to be on the baseball team. I decided to declare
business finance as my major because I enjoyed working with numbers and thought
I'd find it interesting. I particularly didn't care much about what major I
choose, I was just focused on baseball. I ended up making the team and played
two years for the gators. However, throughout my first 2 years attending school
it appeared choosing a major made no difference. All students, no matter your
major, were required to take these general ed courses. I took classes that had
nothing to do with my major. These general ed classes were required courses to
obtain my finance degree, yet they had nothing to do with finance. So there I
sat in my classrooms, trying to justify how these lectures on biology and the
Renaissance era was going to help me excel in a finance career. I could not
come up with any motivating explanation for me to pay attention in class. I
choose a bachelor’s degree in Finance hoping to explore this field of business
throughout my time at SF State. Instead, I was forced to waste half my time
taking courses that were meaningless towards my pursued career.
It turns out I made the right decision choosing Finance as
my major. Now in my senior year at SFSU the majority of my classes are in fact
finance courses, which I have become very interested in. It was not until last
year that I started taking finance related courses. Yet, I've been a full time
student averaging about 15 units each semester since the spring of 2009.
Therefore, I'm left baffled by the fact that it took me 6 semesters to find out
if the major I choose was the right fit for me. This issue makes me skeptical
about the values of higher education. Is requiring irrelevant courses just a
way for schools to make more money, extending the duration a student has to
spend going to college? Or perhaps the reason is to develop well rounded
learning. You can call me a pessimist, but I'm leaning towards my first idea.
Since my early adolescence, I have realized general science
classes are not my cup of tea. However, since as early as i can remember I've
been forced to take these science courses. In fact, even here at San Francisco
State I have been required to take 4 general science courses. Are these general
science courses really going to help me pursue a financial career? Absolutely
not, the study of biology is great if i wanted to become a doctor, but its not
going to help me choose the most profitable investments in the stock market. I
understand why in middle school and high school these classes are taught.
General science is information that we as a society should have a basic
understanding of. However, college is not a required education. According to
Merriam-Webster college is, “a part of a university offering a specialized
group of courses." Therefore, I shouldn't have to spend 6 semesters of
college before I get to "study the specialized group of courses" I
chose.
Universities need to restructure their
undergraduate programs. Perhaps there are general courses all majors should be
required to take. General sciences do not fit in that category. However, I did
take a few general courses at SF State that were helpful. There was a critical
thinking course I took that studied the structuring of arguments. Almost all
majors require communication skills. Therefore, this class showed me how to
become a more persuasive individual. My point is universities should create
courses that educate students to become more of a desirable employee. Students
go to college to obtain a better job once they graduate. Therefore,
universities need to start recognizing this. Perhaps create more degree
designed courses and less general courses. I want to be a financial expertise
when I graduate not an expert on high school material.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteI am on the same boat as you when you say that it took you a long time to really realize that you had chosen the correct major. It seems like, me being in my senior year as well, I really have touched the whole subject of my major now that I am almost done with school. I think that universities are set up to get more money. In the case that I started to take courses related to my major and I realized that I did not like this major I would have to change making me stay in this university longer. Also I think there are a lot of people who may not like there major but just want to finish, so end graduating with a major they are unhappy with.
I can definitely see the pros and cons of having so many general education courses, mostly the ones that seem most irrelevant to the field of study that you are mainly focused on. I remember having an english course, where our teacher discussed how some counselors act as gate-keepers, meaning that they tell you that you need a whole bunch of classes on top of general education courses for your career, when in reality you don't. I remember when I first started my college career, my first counselor adviced me to take courses that I did not need at all, not even to fulfill general ed requirements. This had me very upset because it made me waste a whole semester on courses I didn't need. However, I also like to think of general ed courses as courses that are intended to expand our knowledge. Our majors, whatever they are, require us to take a lot of classes that specifically relate to that career field. If our knowledge was only focused on our majors then we would all be a little bit boring because we would not be able to talk to others about other aspects of life. Therefore I think that general education courses can be good so it can expand our knowledge on other aspects of life; However, we should not get fooled into taking courses that do not fulfill general ed courses or anything in our major.
ReplyDeleteLike what others have said, I do agree that it takes sometimes until you get into the core of your study discipline. When I first got to United States, I was a little bit skeptical about the way they organize our education path. I even had an argument with my dad about how U.S history would help me in the future as an Information System graduate. Even though I still believe that those General Education courses are still less important, yet I kinda get the idea of why they require us to take those courses because they want us to know a little bit of everything. Anyway, aren't we going to get bored really fast if we only study about one thing?
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