My Major is Business and I Have Music Class (Op-ed)

My Major is Business and I Have Music Class

By Namiki Tanaka APR. 18, 2017

Last summer when I went back home in Japan, my mother introduced me to her friends and proudly said, “She wanted to study psychology in the United States, and now she is getting a master’s degree.” I was very confused.

Every time I told my parents what I was studying in college, they gave me questioning looks. In 2015, I earned my bachelor’s degree in global studies with emphasis of international business. My parents even came to see me walking on the stage; they still don’t know what exactly I studied unless I explain again and again.

Sitting in my biology class, back in 2011, I was wondering why I had to learn about a subject that I would not use after the final exam and studied in high school. In the first two years of college, I went to a community college before transferring to a four years institution. In the community college, more than one professor said, “Well, I’m assuming that you guys learned these in high school, so I will go over quickly.”

Since I am an international student, taking the same classes from high school could be helpful for me to review in English; however, I felt sorry for the local students who took the same class in high school. All classes are not free, of course. 60 credit hours that I earned in the first two years cost approximately $20,000, which is much cheaper than what students pay in four years institutions.

In the United States, most of college students have to take repeating classes, so-called general education classes. Some classes, such as business and economics, can be new to students, but many of general education classes are repeats from high school.

Yet, I also agree that taking general education courses has benefit. While taking different classes, students are allowed to have time and opportunities to decide what major they are interested in and want to focus for the last two years in college.

My question is whether students must take two years to think about their major as they make more student loans as they graduate. Even though students prefer to take time making decisions on major, two years seem too long, at least from my experience.

Another benefit of taking general education courses that I can think of is to expand students’ perspectives beyond their interests. Some say that general education courses will help students in different career. Again, two years do not seem reasonable to study outside their fields.

The biggest reason why my parents were confused with my major was because of the different high school and college system in Japan. Most of high schools have courses, and general education is one of the courses as well. When students apply for college, they have to apply for a major that they want to study. Also, there are countries including Canada and Australia where students usually get their bachelor’s degrees in three years.

Different countries have their own system of education, and I think there is not any correct system of education, but it is also possible to review system that has not been changed for a long time. Isn’t it time to rethink about how college education can be more approachable and valuable for as many students as possible?

When I asked two of my friends who studied in different colleges in the United States, they both told me that they felt wasting time and tuition in the first two years. One of them agreed that taking general education courses helped her to figure out what she wanted to study although she felt that one semester or one year could be enough of time.

If college education has to be for four years or require 120 credit hours, it is critical that institutions may need to change curriculum. For instance, students can use half year to gain more experience by doing internship or job search sometime during the four years. From interviews that I have had, I have never been asked about experience of classroom but outside of school. GPA cannot tell about students as much as experience can tell.

Taking general education classes give student extra time and has possibilities to expand their perspectives beyond what they want to focus.

After being in school for almost 18 years, I strongly believe that the education system in higher education institutions have to be changed to “educate” students efficiently and also to give access to more students.

My college experience tells me that general education could be cut and replaced with more practical courses unless I have to know how to read DNA in my future career.