Seniors, you've registered for classes. You've seen the "S=0" glaring at you on e-Services. You, a senior who has spent three years learning at DePauw (let's not add up that tuition bill), cannot take this class because of your "standing."
As a senior who has been off campus for the entire previous year, creating my schedule for this semester was vitally important. I needed to "fit in" all necessary classes to graduate. Along the way, I hoped to take French or a course outside of my major (economics) to learn more outside my "area of expertise" (but speaking of my expertise, if you're looking for my answer to solving the world's economic problems, check out my seminar paper).
One particular DePauw requirement was nagging at me: the science and math requirement. I had taken intro to psychology, but I still needed one more science course.
I sent desperate pleas to science teachers who did not teach quantum physics or biochemistry. The most common response from teachers? "You can't enroll in this course because you're a senior." When I explained my situation (no, I wasn't abroad for just a semester, it was a whole year), they smiled and said, "There are surely other science and math courses that are open."
Yes, they were correct. Quantum physics, mechanical engineering, calculus II — those courses were all open. I took physics pass/fail in high school and who in eighth grade failed the demonstration of "centrifugal force" (the bucket of water spilled everywhere — guess I proved the force wrong).
Kids laughed and I called it the end of my science career. Science courses are certainly not for me.
Some professors tell me this rule is to eliminate seniors who may want to take a 100-level class for an "easy A." Perhaps that's the reason why seniors can't take European civilization from 1789-present or human origins. Professors, I am not looking for an "easy A." If I were, I would certainly not be an economics major. I am simply looking for a balance.
Perhaps some seniors have violated the trust of professors in the past. Maybe seniors slacked once their job contracts were signed and goofed off in class.
Professors, it is a different economy today. (Nine percent unemployment for 28 straight months is pretty high.) We seniors may graduate without jobs — we literally cannot afford to slack off.
My greatest blessing is being admitted into statistics for professionals and that required spending hours in the office of the registrar.
So I won't know about origins of humans or any interesting European history before I graduate. That said, I hope seniors and professors can somehow work together to alleviate the "S=0" situation on e-Services. After all, we are given four years to complete our graduation requirements, not three. Most importantly, some seniors do not want to slack off.
They actually want to learn and get the liberal arts education for which they are paying. More often than not, we are not looking for an "easy A." We are looking for a balance.
—Napier is a senior economics major from Lake Forest, Ill. opinion@thedepauw.com
