Who Should Take Electives? YOU SHOULD!

Of course, should is a bad word. It carries lots of problems with it, including judgment, controlling behavior, and other things we don't like. But if you can afford it, take a few electives in college, even if you don't have to.

Why? I'll tell you why. It's mostly what Kate was talking about yesterday, about how you never know when something in college will inspire you to think in an entirely new direction. Her story is just not that rare; there are untold numbers of people who march into college sure they are majoring in engineering and then get captured by finance. Or vice versa. Or students who are sure they have no writing talent but then some English professor believes in them and they write a novel. Don't laugh, it happens.

I'm not saying this will happen for everyone, and I also have a lot of sympathy for the students who really and truly do know exactly what they need and want out of college but still have to take lots of classes that, in the end, don't have anything to do with their lives. In fact, it's those folks that PowerPapers works with a lot, the students who are forced to take classes that really and truly are like oil to their water. I also believe that it's possible to broaden one's horizons in lots of ways, not just by taking a class. But you can't deny that it's a really convenient way to learn something new, and if you're there already and, like I said, you have the money, why not? Take a few extra classes -- you might learn something new!