Even though school is tiring, we all look forward to the next semester's classes. New subjects, new books, new schedules, new teachers, new friends, et cetera; however, this upcoming semester is going to be terrible for me. Why, you ask? Because although I am only in what is considered 16 hours, I am in a total of eight classes. Yes, eight. That’s a lot of classes for a college semester.
All of these classes will meet at least twice a week, if not more, so, how are they worth only 16 credits? How am I supposed to have time for outside activities? Isn’t college supposed to be the best years of your life socially?
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This past semester, I had a class that met for three hours per week, plus rehearsals and performances on the weekends. The total credit hours I received for this class? One. Just one. I was putting in six hours of class time plus outside mandatory attendance on weekends for one credit hour. Call me lazy, but I have more important classes and activities in my life. I cannot commit to so many hours for just one credit.
As a music minor, I have found that this is the case with many courses in the music department. Next semester I am taking two courses (both of which are only given in Fall semester, at 8:30 a.m.) and one is three days a week with two credits given, the other twice a week with one credit. I also happen to know that these two classes are extremely difficult and take a lot of time studying outside of class.
I have noticed many other students in other departments complaining about the same issue. Whether it is anatomy lab or music, the credit hours earned for the student should reflect the amount of work and time committed to a course. As a student going into my sophomore year, I have learned that college goes by fast. You must make the most of it. Have as many experiences and take as many classes that you can, but if these classes continue to take up more and more time (especially mandatory practices on most weekends), it becomes hard to do so.
