I only have 30 credit hours under my belt at this point, so I don’t have tons to choose from.
But my favorite class from my two semesters was definitely medical terminology.
I have always loved words, so vocabulary is fun for me every time.
Plus, I find medical stuff to be fascinating.
So, words + medical information = an interested Kristen.
Since this class was easy and enjoyable for me, I remember that I signed up to help tutor some of my struggling classmates, helping them come up with mnemonic devices to remember the terms.
Anyway, if I go back for a nursing degree and have to take an updated medical terminology class, I will not be mad about it (aside from having to pay for it again! Ha.)
Is it bad to say that I find classes more memorable for the interactions with professors and classmates than for their content? I had a really fantastic college experience.
I forget which physics class it was that we had only maybe half a dozen class members and a first-year professor who had a habit of assigning bonus problems. I remember the answer to one of those coming to me at the bar (Big Beer Thursday, I’m pretty sure) and being over-the-moon excited to write the solution on a napkin with a classmate who happened to also be there. Of course we weren’t supposed to work together on it, but I can’t remember if there was a repercussion or not.
She’s still friends with the professor and I’m still friends with her, and although they both teach physics, I’m almost as far from it as I can be. 🙂
I think that makes a lot of sense. It’s like how the joy of a trip could have nothing to do with the destination and everything to do with your traveling companions.
Honestly, it was probably the grammar class that I didn’t have to actually show up for. The teacher allowed us to take what was essentially the final exam in the first class, and if we got 90% or better on it, we got the credit without having to actually be in class. This made perfect sense to me. Why waste everyone’s time if it isn’t necessary?
Other than that, I really enjoyed my geology class and accompanying lab. I went to college at Northern Arizona University, which is in the mountains not far from the Grand Canyon, so there were lots of interesting geological formations to see there.
I have never heard of a class like that, but it makes so much sense. Sort of like a CLEP test…if you know the material, why waste a semester?
Medical Ethics. The book was new so very expensive. I borrowed it from the hospital library so could only keep it for 2 weeks. The prof required a weekly paper for the 12 chapters with 2 questions – What was amazing to you in this chapter? What is an unanswerable question from this chapter? I wrote all 12 papers and took lots of notes in the 2 weeks I had the book. So every week I went to class and participated in lively discussions. It was an easy A and has helped me in all the years of my career in nursing to ask questions and be amazed.
Ooh, I bet that is an interesting class!
Children’s Literature was my favorite. It was exciting to be introduced to children’s books that I didn’t know and fun to revisit ones that I did. When bookstores were more prevalent my husband and I loved to visit them while vacationing. Didn’t have children yet but gravitated to the youth section(s) regardless. The Kiddie Lit class was so interesting. Some years later my husband ended up knowing my professor professionally. I was able to tell her how much I had enjoyed her class!
Macroeconomics and System Design were both fun classes. My only issue with the former is that it was all written by egg-heads who never thought about people as individuals. The concepts were interesting but it always seemed to come from a cold, sterile mind.
I suppose it’s a tough job to find someone who is technically brilliant but also very personable and relational. Those two traits don’t seem to overlap super often!
Maybe they should have had a team write that textbook; someone to be technically brilliant and someone to be personable. That would be a dream team.
I really enjoyed many diverse classes over the 35 years that I have taken college classes off and on, and, I agree with the person who said that such a big part of that was getting to know and work with other students. That’s why online classes are awful for me! I feel bad for those who feel as I do and miss out on that part of it. Yes, I know we can (sort of) get to know each otters and even work on projects together, but it’s not the same at all.
I find math and computer-y classes the least enjoyable, because they’re hard and unfulfilling and I feel I never get caught up or really understand or learn. Classes where the point is to memorize facts, like medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, stuff like that, are easy A’s and interesting for me. Ones where a lot of papers are required are the worse, since I don’t feel like I get much out of it, I get compulsive and perfectionistic, and procrastinate.
So much depends on the chemistry between instructor and students!
Others! We get to know OTHERS, not OTTERS! Haha! I love otters!
I loved college and don’t know that I can pick one favorite. I liked that in Business 101 we had to give a 30-second speech every week to get us used to talking in front of people. I liked Business Statistics because I started college as a math major due to my love for statistics, so combining business and stats was kind of a sweet spot for me. My speech prof was super fun and I appreciate the different areas she challenged us in. I appreciated that my environmental science prof valued my input in discussions and sent me an email saying so, particularly after a class when my input didn’t match what some others were arguing for. I liked that one of my Core profs really challenged us to understand other people. Come to think of it… one of my classes was a cross-cultural experience. I spent 3 weeks in Jamaica in January of my junior year learning about the various parts of the country, visiting a coffee farm and so many other places, and learning with a great group. OK… I guess I DO have a favorite.. JAMAICA!!! 🙂
Ooh, I liked medical terminology. But my favorite was food science. With a lab! So cool.