Thankfully, I’m counted as a regular with Christy Maier, otherwise I may not have had a chance to meet with the academic services director last week as students swarmed her office during this registration season. As I sat down to discuss my schedule for next semester with her, it occurred to me how nice it would be to take some non-major related classes just for fun. Although my requirements to graduate with the rest of my year mostly limit any extra time left in my schedule for such interesting and random classes, I am a firm believer in the importance of finding ways to branch out of your major, and even your academic life as a whole. 

I think it’s a widely accepted fact that we live in a bubble here at Hillsdale– which isn’t necessarily bad. In fact, there’s probably a good case to be made that it’s even necessary to some extent in order to accomplish our education’s end goal. 

That being said, there are some obvious pitfalls to living in such an environment, not least among them the threat of  losing touch with the broader world. Staying too much within the confines of your class schedule or your major’s requirements could be a microcosm of the larger, academic bubble here. 

Hillsdale offers so many interesting and fun classes, from Conspiracy Theories with Professor of History David Stewart to the newly offered Creative Writing with Chigozie Obioma. Trying to branch out this way could be a means of finding balance by stretching yourself differently. And when else will you have the opportunity to study whatever random things that fascinate you?  

Even though I feel limited at times by my schedule, which as an English major is admittedly smaller than other majors, some of my favorite classes I have taken so far were totally irrelevant to my major. Did the term paper for Reformation with Dr. Gaetano almost kill me? Yes. Would I take it all over again if given the chance? Also yes. 

Even if you’re an accounting major and feel like there is absolutely no way to break free from the enormity of your major’s commitments on top of completing the core, there are other ways to branch out and stretch yourself. 

I am fortunate enough to have a car, allowing me to physically get out and explore, whether just around town, or even to Chicago for a weekend. My friends and I even harbor the ambitious plan of soon taking a day trip either to Ann Arbor or perhaps to the Dayton Art Institute. But even if you don’t have a car, you could literally stretch yourself with a simple walk downtown, grounding yourself in the ordinary reality of  the broader bubble of Hillsdale, and reminding yourself to breathe in the midst of registration and final’s stress. 

All of these things will make your time at Hillsdale a fuller and more enjoyable experience.