General education courses are essential in making well-rounded adults of us all. I mean, there are many relevant things to be learned in all general disciplines, and it will be important in the workplace to be able to view a situation from varying perspectives.

For instance, I couldn’t be more relieved to be done with my mathematics requirements. That is not to say that I do not value the financial planning skills I gained from taking math for liberal arts. Although I hate math, I will always need it as a basic living skill.

The same goes for English. I see my peers struggling every day with proper grammar, spelling and sentence structure, so why would we want to do away with language arts requirements in college? We could always use more writing practice, especially since our communication skills are so vital in any kind of job.

With a gen ed elective, you could find out just what you are missing. Are they not the “fun” classes? Taking global environment brought a lot of the world’s pollution and population issues to my attention, but it also helped me discover that I love seeking out and reporting current events. Also, I think everyone needs to keep up to date with important and interesting things happening around us.

In addition to all things current, it is sad to see folks out of high school knowing very little about US history. They don’t realize that everything about our lives today is a directly caused by events in the past.

Some make the argument that they finished gen eds in high school and want to immerse themselves only in their chosen majors. However, in life, we never stop learning, so we should embrace the opportunity of interdisciplinary education and all the wisdom it brings.