What does this have to do with my major?

So-called useless college classes and how they might not be so useless.

Image c/o Saint Mary's College

By Madison Sciba
Editor-in-Chief

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A common complaint heard around college campuses across the country is “ugh why do I have to take this class? It doesn’t even have anything to do with my major.” STEM students complain about having to take English and History classes while liberal arts students complain about being forced to take science labs and math classes. A great deal of people major in something that they are interested and/or good at, which is why a lot of students dislike having to take classes that are on a widely different topic than the one they are studying. What most students fail to realize is how essential these “other” classes are to creating a well rounded education. 

When first starting Saint Mary’s I was infuriated that I had to take a math class. As a communications major and history minor, who has always had a great disdain for mathematics, I wanted to cry at the thought of having to use algebra or even think about the quadratic formula. After a semester of tears and crying out, “I just don’t get it,” I eventually realized that taking the class was actually beneficial to me. Sure I don’t use high level math in my everyday life, but the basic statistics and data that I learned has remained helpful when navigating the real world. 

In discussing these so called “useless classes” the conversation is usually liberal arts students having to take math and science classes. Interestingly, STEM majors complain almost as much, if not more, about having to take English and history class. My brother is a cyber intelligence and security major at an aerospace and engineering school. When he had to take his required English class it became apparent to me why it was necessary for people to take classes outside of their subject. People like my brother, those who are more geared towards science and technology, are not as skilled at English and language arts as liberal arts majors. Liberal arts requires a lot of writing so those majors get a lot of practice, STEM major’s don’t so they need that required extra English class to get those much needed skills that come with essay writing and reading important novels. 

Look, we all don’t want to take classes on topics we find difficult/uninteresting, but they are necessary. The goal of most universities is to create well rounded individuals who will be productive in the outside world. An essential part to being well rounded is taking a variety of classes on a range of topics. What good is a person who only knows one subject? An engineer who cannot write a legible paper on their research won’t be an effective one. Being able to quote a Shakespeare play in old English is great but won’t help you when doing math to manage your finances. Our society needs us to study and have a basic understanding of all areas so we can be productive, successful members of society. 

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