Alex Morehead Podcast Draft I remember sitting in Geology 130 my freshman year thinking to myself why in the hell

am I taking this class. Ive known since high school that I wanted to major in Business Management, and was declared that as my major since before my first college class. It was a class that interested me little, because of a combination of the teacher being terribly boring, but mainly because the subject of rocks and dirt has never struck me as interesting. Eventually I learned that me being enrolled in the class was the result of a University mandated policy that dictates what subject matter classes I take as before I can get into the main course load that pertains to business classes. I used to think that a wide variety of undergraduate electives gave way for students to be well rounded and broaden their horizons, until I went through the process myself. Now I believe that a large load of electives and humanities can be a waste of time, money and in the long run can cause students to focus less on classes that actually pertain to their major or field of study. I am not in favor of completely abolishing undergraduate electives all together, but more in favor of condensing the required course load. In my opinion this will not only give students the chance to take classes that both broaden their way of thinking and analyzing, but will also fulfill a smaller load of electives This topic is unique to not only me but the other students in my class because with the cost of college constantly increasing, we as students want to make sure we are getting the most out of our time and money that we invest in our education. Take the University of Kentucky for examplethe average cost of a semester for an in-state student is around $ 4,800 dollars. If a student were to graduate in four years, which is becoming increasingly difficult to do, that means just the tuition bill alone would come to $ 38,400 dollars. That figure is not even factoring in such costs as books, room and board and miscellaneous costs. With costs reaching that high for a just a four year education, it demonstrates the need to make sure that a students four years are not only spent getting good grades, but that they obtain understand valuable material that is pertinent to their major/field of study. I believe this subject is interesting to an academic audience because our time and money is so valuable. Many kids are forced to take out huge loans to attempt to pay for college without help from Mom and Dad. I believe that by sharing what I have learned with others it could help them make better choices on what classes to enroll in. It could also make university officials step back and look at their designated core curriculum, and determine if it is the best route for students to take to maximize their return from their degree. Im not saying that taking astronomy or anthropology class is detrimental when youre a Business Management Major. But what Im arguing is that it is unnecessary to make students take multiple cross-cultural or geography classes when that is not what they are at school to study. I propose that instead of students first 45-60 hours being spent on general electives, that schools decrease the number of electives required and start integrating each student into classes that go towards their degree. This would benefit students as it would give them an earlier chance to start getting integrated into the subject

matter that they chose to study, which usually means their more interested and devoted to. One quick example would be a typical Business Management major here at UK. In order to complete his or her degree they need to fulfill 30 hours of classes from the core class list. These are very beneficial classes, as they are business oriented classes that do well in helping integrate a business mindset to students. However, there are also 45 hours required by the University that must fulfill the electives portion of a students degree path. Something to consider, would be taking that 45 hours, and subtracting 15 hours from it, or five classes. Take those five classes and instead of requiring a student to take two cross-cultural electives, they only require one, and put those 15 hours towards more business oriented classes. It would allow students to become more submerged in business minded classes.