Every semester we end up with a mix of good classes and bad ones; hopefully the ones we like outweigh the ones we don’t. But considering the sheer number of general education courses we are required to take while pursuing a degree, it is inevitable that a few funny apples will drop from the tree.

Only the all-knowing gods of the educational system know why certain classes fulfill the requirements to complete a degree here at Kent State. And so I must bow to their ineffable wisdom when faced with the prospect of Political Methods in pursuance of a journalism degree.

If nothing else, I know my time here has granted me an extensive vocabulary.

A friend of mine, who is actually studying political science, said the class is more useful for political science majors who want to continue on into grad school. It makes me wonder what use a JMC major has with a class on analyzing polls. My bad for registering, I guess.

Some of the non-major specific classes we take I fully understand as they can give background knowledge to what you are studying. Hell, I liked taking History of the English Language. I want to make a living for myself by writing, so a class that gave me an in-depth view of where the words I use came from made sense.

General education classes are meant to round out our education and give students a more thorough knowledge of the world. But with a university that seems to continuously pile more requirements on us each year, it is no wonder that fewer and fewer students are able to graduate in four years. I certainly won’t be able to.

Do the people who make the decisions about what we need to graduate consider such things? Do they get some sort of perverse joy out of our being here for that extra period of time? Or is it just about money?

Students should not be made to take extraneous classes that do not teach them something about the field they want to study. Having an understanding of our history and the world around us is one thing. However, taking classes that are unlikely to have any bearing on our future careers is a whole other bushel of apples.

We’re now just about at that point in the semester where we get to pick our classes for the next one. My advice is to think not only about what classes fit time constraints and fulfill requirements, but also about ones that actually make sense in the long run.

Molly Cahill is a senior pre-journalism major and a columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact

her at [email protected].