Choosing courses for next semester
is a great example of how limited choice can be. I’m sitting here at my
computer searching through the course catalog struggling to decide what to
take. I only have to take one course for my major which most people would call
a blessing, but I’ve found myself wishing I had more mandatory classes. I’ve
found much of the course catalog to be uninspiring and part of me wishes I had
someone to just tell me what to take. I’ve asked friends for suggestions and
even had my parents look through the listings themselves. Even though there are
dozens of departments with dozens of courses each, I don’t feel like I have
many options. On the whole I can only take higher-level courses within my
major. Many 200-level and above courses have prerequisites, which means I can
only take courses in departments in which I’ve taken the introductory course.
This forces me to find another department to focus on besides my major.
Therefore should I be minoring? Minoring puts me on a predetermined track,
which decides many of my classes for me. That’s what I was asking for earlier
so maybe that’s a good thing. I started with a 200-level course this semester
and I really enjoy it, but if I want to get the minor I need the intro-level
course, which honestly does not excite me. Do I take a course I’m not that excited
about to earn a seemingly arbitrary title or do I take another 200-level course
that I think I will enjoy much more? Employers would like it if I had a minor,
right? It shows focus, right? These are the questions that will continue to run
through my mind for the next two days and I’m sure beyond. Right now I feel
like I have huge choices to make and I won’t know if I made the right decisions
until after the choices are made. This feels a lot like House of Danger. In the end does it really matter which choice I
make?
I was actually going to write about choosing classes for next semester also! I definitely agree that although we do have an open curriculum here at Hamilton, the students don't really have much choice when choosing their classes. A lot of courses have prerequisites and students also must only choose classes related to their major/minor after a certain point. I also think it's weird how a lot of our choices are based on how it will reflect in the eyes of future employers and graduate school admissions. I think its always just a matter of whether or not the choices we make will have a positive effect in our future.
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