Whether you’re commuting or living on campus, we all get that deer-in-the-headlights feeling as we walk into our first class as freshmen. We’ve experienced the constant worry of missing class and the awkward butchering of our names when professors call attendance. Been there, done that. So this year, to help freshmen make the transition, NSU has implemented a new class that all freshmen are required to take, a pointless one at that.
I love to learn, but this class bores me. My professor’s attitude makes the class bearable, but the material reviewed is redundant and can make an hour seem infinite.
University 1000 is a three credit class designed to expose the incoming freshman class of 2020 to a plethora of different resources and activities that the campus has to offer. Not only has NSU made this class a requirement, but orientation was also a requirement. In addition to sitting through the daylong orientation, freshmen are forced to sit through an entire semester of lectures and redundant information. Why sit in a classroom and waste your time when the information being taught has already been given to us? There is nothing wrong with the teachers, but the class itself is unnecessary.
“Take the time to study. Plan out your schedule. Have a routine.” I understand we have all this newfound freedom and, as freshman, it can get overwhelming. However, at this point, why repeat yourself time and time again? In a university class that is meant to show you resources, relearning APA style typically learned in a required general education class seems pointless. I fail to see the need to hear about the size 12, Times New Roman font in UNIV 1000.
Furthermore, why force me to sit through outside extracurricular activities that I may not be fond of? As a requirement, freshmen in my UNIV class are expected to attend “Beyond the Classroom Learning Experiences” that reflect cultural, academic, recreational and intellectual activities. This means that we have to attend activities in each category and then write a two page journal reflection about the event. Mind you, we can’t forget to take a selfie and attach it to the journal or else it didn’t happen. Oh, and just to clarify, the intellectual activities you attend should not be related to your major courses. Clearly, we freshman have so much time on our hands that we absolutely need to attend that soccer game.
It doesn’t seem to be just me though. After speaking with different freshman, “Why am I required to take this?” seems to be one of the main inquiries. Why? Because tuition covers a class where I get to know my peers and hear redundant information time and time again: where buildings are located, what resources are available and of course, the location of the main building that has every answer needed to the student, the One Stop Shop. This is what I listen to day after day, week after week.
At the end of the day, UNIV 1000 is pointless. The professors are great; I’m not complaining about them. I am just highlighting the fact that a class that is meant to expose me to new “college experiences,” doesn’t.
