Students need to always expect the worst when it comes to taking classes that allegedly hold the promise of being enjoyable and easy.

Most students have free electives or other requirements to fulfill outside of their major. Many students choose to cover these by taking presumably easy classes, ones that will give them a bit of a break from the busy week. For instance, a student might choose sculpting as an art elective as opposed to art history. Instead of an intensive chemistry course, some may choose instead to take a “fun” science (i.e. Oceanography, astronomy, or a myriad of others). Instead of a literature course, some may opt for an intriguing mythology course.

I sympathize with these students looking for a little bit less work throughout the course of a busy semester, perhaps just looking for a “fun” break from a list of high-level research paper induced major classes. However, students should always expect to have a full workload in every class. I spoke to several students who took classes expecting them to be light in work and intriguing. I have also overheard similar conversations around campus throughout the semester. The overall theme was that certain classes were not what students expected- the classes were difficult and work intensive, not “fun”.

A typical conversation one might hear/have around campus: “Sculpture huh? Sounds fun, must be an easy A.” “No OMG don’t take that class it’s absolutely NOT an easy A!”

I’m sure everyone is familiar with hearing this.

“They were hyped up to be more than they should have been,” said sophomore psychology major Christina Miller on certain classes she’s taken.

The claim Miller is making is that classes are talked up for being intriguing without being work intensive. These classes are looked forward to and might fill up fast. Later into the semester, however, students realize that the class may actually lack intrigue but involve time-consuming assignments. The lack of interest may come from dry material or, in some cases according to students, poor presentation of material by professors.

“The professor didn’t inspire me to keep reading, the class wasn’t stimulating. But there are many teachers that make you want to keep reading and researching,” Miller said.

The lesson here is that you never really know what to expect from a class. Factors that can af- fect student opinion on a class in- clude professors, material, work- load, and even time of the day or night.

I too have taken classes that I expected to be a piece of cake. On the other hand, I have taken classes that I expected to be difficult but turned out to require minimal effort. At any rate, be prepared for the worst, be prepared to devote hours of studying for every single class no matter how “easy” the descriptions make them seem.