Science 102: Elements. Compounds. The Periodic Table. Boredom.

As I sit in my class learning about tetrahydrourushiol and propionaldehyde I begin to think myself, as a media production student is any of this information really going to be useful in the real world? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to me to be taking more film and television courses rather than sitting through a lab once a week that involves clicking a mouse on a computer enough times for the program to become fed up with my lack of knowledge and finally give me the answer?

As a junior starting to think about life after college and the plethora of experience and knowledge needed to find a well-paying job these days I begin to worry, am I ready to work in the competitive field of media production? Do I have what it takes to be picked over any other potential candidates for a certain job?

In order to graduate from Quinnipiac with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications, one must have at least 120 credits, only 40 of which pertaining to the individual major in the School of Communications. Does this seem right? Shouldn’t a student be allowed, or perhaps suggested, to take as many courses in their field as possible in order to gain as much knowledge and experience as necessary? Quinnipiac seems to disagree. In order to gain the “well-rounded education” that they so carelessly refers to it as, students must take an insane amount of courses outside their major to receive “core curriculum” credits forcing them to be unable to gain as much knowledge as they would like to in their field.

Clearly, one could argue that there are certain benefits to me having to take English Lit, science labs, and philosophy courses, but do the pros out weigh the cons when it comes to taking these courses over, perhaps, “Narrative Production,” or “Digital Editing?” I highly doubt it.

However, what I do know is that when it comes to find a job and my potential colleague wonders why I have not taken sufficient classes or have a necessary amount of experience in certain areas such as television or film, I can come back to the lovely Quinnipiac campus and thank those who put together this not-so-perfect core curriculum for not “preparing tomorrow’s leaders today, in Liberal Arts, Health Science and Communications.”