Robin McCollum

rmccollum2@collin.edu

2nd draft; first essay

To What Extent are College Classes Necessary?

Every person on this planet has something they are naturally talented at.

Whether you could sleep in every history class and still make a 4.0 average, or have the

ability to create a masterpiece with just a piece of chalk; each individual person just has

that certain knack others may not. With talent, comes struggle. Just because you can

create a short story in a matter of minutes, doesn’t mean you can solve arithmetic with

ease. So why should college students be required to take classes that aren’t

mandatory for their field of work? Why should I be in this english class having to write

this paper when I plan on cleaning teeth for the rest of my career as a dental hygienist?

I won’t be writing journal entries on how someone’s molars looked during their last

appointment; so why do college students have classes that are required, yet serve no

purpose for the field of work they choose to study in.

High school was meant for teaching the basic necessities of each subject. But

high school is there to learn the basics until you reach the point in time of your life

where you have decided the career field of your choice, but you still are taught the basic

facts in which you need in “the real world” . Well I’ve come to the conclusion on what I

plan on doing with my life, and literature and composition are not a part of it. I see no

point in my life where I would write a memoir, or begin writing poetry, or even keep a

journal to jot down my thoughts. My thoughts are in my head, where they belong. Why

should I be required to take a class over Texas politics, when I honestly could care less

about the political impact Texas has on the rest of the world. The basic needs of each

study have been met during high school, there is only so much unnecessary information

each person should have to learn to make it through life successfully.

Many students that are in college end up being on financial aid just so they

can pay their way through school, but maybe there wouldn’t be so many students on

financial aid if they had less classes to take, which means less money they would have

to spend. Each class costs a decent amount of money, not to mention the outrageous

price on books. If some of these classes were eliminated, students wouldn’t have to

worry as much about their financial situations. More people may even go to college

since it will end up being cheaper, and take less time. Many students have to drop out

of their classes if they cannot pay their tuition, or many people don’t even go to college

due to the fact that they cannot afford it. Also, if a student isn’t knowledgeable in a

certain class, like one that is required, it could lower their GPA. If those “non-required”

classes were eliminated, it would boost the percentage of people in college, lower the

percentage of students on financial aid, and most likely boost the students GPA’s.

Even though there are trade schools, which allow their students to focus on their

specialized field of work, I do honestly believe all colleges should be somewhat more

like trade schools. Teachers in high school tell their students they will use the lessons

later in life that they have been taught. Well this is college, and we are not as naïve

as those of students still in high school (hopefully), so why should college professors

cram so much unnecessary information into their students minds, which is just going to

be forgotten knowledge in a few years. College students have too much on their plate,

whether they work full time, take care of their children or loved ones, etcetera, all these

extra un-needed classes are just causing more frustration and more time spent in class

when they could be using it for something more valuable. We are spending our hard-

earned