Education in General

Reading and reviewing a previous blog post about the course requirements of an english major has led me to question all of the general education requirements of the students here at Framingham State University. I am not an english major, (you may remember me as the communications major demanding respect in a prior post) but I still believe there are several unfair requirements for students at this University.

The general education requirements consist of 12 different subjects as well as a lab course and a course that studies the Constitution. I understand that the school wants to produce a well rounded individual. I understand that the school wants to allow undeclared students the opportunity to try out different areas and see which major they feel they would be compatible with. What I do not understand, or appreciate, is how my overall GPA can be affected so negatively by these requirements.

I am a communications major (a proud one at that) and my GPA within the major is close to 3.5. This may not be considered outstanding, but certainly respectable. Writing 3.5 as my GPA on my resume is not something I would be even remotely opposed to. However I will not be able to write 3.5 because that is simply my GPA within my major classes. Two unfortunate bad grades hang over my head and have my GPA much closer to 2.8. Although I could be doing a lot worse than 2.8, I can’t help but be angry at the fact that it would be significantly higher if it weren’t for two of my general education requirements.

The two classes dragging my GPA down are Physical Geology and Math for the Liberal Arts. I respect people that intend to go into these fields, but I don’t plan on involving material from either course in my career or life. Yet they seem to be haunting me. Is it really fair that I may miss out on jobs because I performed poorly in a class about rocks? I don’t believe it is. Potential employers will see a D on my transcript and begin to second guess whether or not I’m the right guy for the job. This shouldn’t be the case.

The argument could always be made that there are different options for each goal. This is true, but with every required class students must take by a certain point and at a specific time, you come to find that you have a lot less freedom than you originally anticipated. Also, if you perform poorly in a class, you have the option to retake it…as long as you fork over another 900 dollars. Forgive me, but I don’t have the patience or the extra money to do that.

Although I am not happy with my GPA, I have learned to accept it. Currently I am a senior and in line to graduate next semester, lackluster GPA or not. However there still remains one problem; I have yet to complete my Life Science general education requirement. So while I am slated to take the two remaining communications classes I have yet to complete, along with the final english course to complete my minor, I have also found myself registered for Nutrition Science and Applications. This was actually the lesser of several evils, the other options being Plants and Society, Environmental Science, or Genetics. The sad part about this is that the course has the high possibility of dragging my GPA down even further.

As I have mentioned before, I understand the need for a well rounded student. But maybe the school could ease up on their requirements? A geology class really shouldn’t be the deciding factor of whether or not I am hired by a company. I guess I shouldn’t worry about these requirements knowing I am graduating in May. Then again, with my luck I will end up failing nutrition and not be eligible to graduate. Pray for me.