Here at Indiana Wesleyan University, we have a running joke that everybody's in on. Actually, we have a few of them. Like the one about the tree in front of our communications building that produces berries that smell like vomit. Or how the food in our cafeteria is ALWAYS better on visit days. But, the biggest one of all (even bigger than the puke tree) is called World Changers.
World Changers is a class that all freshman and transfer students have to take their first semester on campus. And you have to pass it to graduate. Don't get me wrong, it's not a hard class by any means. But some might make a feasible argument that it's less than practical.
A nice way to say pointless.
Let's look at the evidence, shall we? I took it. Passed it. Got an A as well. And do I know how to change the world like the name of the class implies? Not really. And if I do, I don't think it's because I did 10 hours of community service or watched The Book of Eli like was required in the syllabus.
As far as I can tell, that class did nearly nothing for me other than help to raise my GPA. And you know what? I'm OK with that right now. Because I need every single ounce of the 4.0 credit I got from that class. Why? Because college is stepping up its game. Classes are harder and it's not as easy to pull an A as it was first semester.
But first semester did help me prepare for second semester. Much more so than high school prepared for college. That's something that ticked me off after I took a step back and intensively evaluated America's educational system over Christmas break (kind of). I had no clue what I was doing first semester, and high school should have given me a clue. I'm not the only person I know who thinks that.
So I try. And I try. And I try to figure out how to do this crazy college thing some more. I've learned how to write so that professors will like it (whether it's how I really want to do it or not), I've learned when I have to read for a class and when I don't, and I've learned how to write a paper for one class while sitting in another. It took some bad grades, some sleepless nights; some redone papers, but I think I have a decent idea of how not to flunk out of college.
No thanks to World Changers.
This is actually quite insightful. And I totally agree, coming from one IWU student to another, World Changers WAS pointless. I get more "world-changing" knowledge from the devotions that most of my professors do before class starts everyday. Now there's some relevant life information. And what WAS the point of watching The Book of Eli? Or sitting through lectures over things that, let's be honest, we already knew...or won't ever need to know.
ReplyDeletePointless.
And don't even get me STARTED on those Clickers.