A Philosophy on "Easy Classes"

I do not blame a single soul who chooses a seemingly less-challenging class to fill their schedule for their semester. There is no shame in that — it’s actually a lot smarter to break up tough coursework with courses that do nothing but fulfill a general requirement, for example. The thing is, choosing an easy course nowadays seems to be a difficult task in itself.

For one, a common mistake is assuming that a creative or visual arts course is simple, purely because the subject matter isn’t traditionally “scholarly.” It’s unfair to give a student a bad grade in an art class just because they’ve never developed that skill before. That’s a true statement, but usually the ethics of courses in these subjects dictate that grades are based on effort and improvement/progression in the skill they focus on. Just turning in some fininshed project doesn’t guaruntee a passing grade. Every teacher of the arts is an expert in their feild, and he or she has had much more exposure to this art than the students they teach. What I’m trying to say is that they can tell if you threw your project together at the last minute. The expectations are just as high in these courses as they are in more “academic”-based classes.

Personal experience: I love to draw, and an 8 a.m. drawing class three days a week sounded like a stress-relieving requirement fulfiller. Quite the opposite — my drawing has improved, but the work is rigorous and arguably more stressful than any class I’ve taken in college so far.

Just as colleges are becoming more selective about who to admit and the standards the students must maintain, professors are also being pushed to make courses more challenging. In such a competetive job market, economy, etc., college officials frown on people who are “just sliding by” with minimal effort. In response, classes have been amped up, more than likely to weed out the bottomfeeders as such. Subjects that might have been simply GPA boosters before are now asking for a lot more from students. History of Rock and Roll actually requires more than knowing who The Beatles are and the words to one section of Bohemian Rhapsody. Realistically, you get the grade that you work to deserve, and the standards are rising.