What was your favorite college class to take? What was the most useful?

MSgt Robert Pellam — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 19:51:35 -0400

Okay, a similar question was asked a year ago, but I am going to move it a bit further. What is your favorite college course you have ever taken? What college course have you taken that was the most helpful in and out of the military? And of course. Why?

My favorite is one I am currently in, Hist 480 "The History of Innovation in Technology." This course is about the different innovations over time and the effect they have on history. For a History major who loves stuff. This is a perfect fit.

The most useful has been Englsh111, Rhetoric. This class taught me what I need to write and read critically while I am at school. Both of these professors are outstanding and I learned a lot.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 9 at 2015 8:34 PM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 20:34:16 -0400

My favorite was any foreign language or English class. I seem to love languages. I especially enjoyed German language classes, but I also enjoyed French, Polish, and Korean.

And I think English (and foreign language) classes were the most helpful. Another thread on RallyPoint asks which skill is most important to be a success in the military. Communication is right up there among the leading skills according to the survey. And to communicate well/effectively, one must have a good grasp of the language and grammar.

If you don't believe me, just have a look around the Internet. You'll see what I mean, MSgt Robert Pellam. (I suspect you do believe me, though, based on what you wrote about rhetoric.)

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 9 at 2015 10:55 PM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 22:55:47 -0400

My favorite class from college was The History of Aviation. I hate to admit it, but the most useful were some classes I dreaded from day one and dismissed as useless. My college made freshman take classes on Word, Excel, and writing. The AF sure loves reports and spreadsheets, so I use that knowledge almost daily.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 9 at 2015 10:57 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 22:57:52 -0400

Criminal procedure or constitutional law.

Response by MSgt Jamie Lyons made Mar 9 at 2015 11:03 PM

MSgt Jamie Lyons — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 23:03:33 -0400

As a history major myself I enjoyed the interwar years between WWI & WW II. But another course I enjoyed that I thought would be boring was the history of Africa. You would be amazed how the history of Africa influenced world evolution.

Response by CPL Brendan Hayes made Mar 9 at 2015 11:08 PM

CPL Brendan Hayes — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 23:08:17 -0400

Favorite class: Introduction to literary theory
It's like philosophy for literature.

Most helpful: Student teaching/internship
All the theory and higher level content is great, but you will never fully understand anything until you have put it to use in the context of your chosen profession.

It's just like the military. You learn a bunch of cool stuff in AIT (OBC, A school, etc) but you won't really know what's going on until you can actaully use it in your unit.

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 10 at 2015 9:54 AM

SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 09:54:59 -0400

I think my favorite college course was Into to Computers. I took this course in 1992. I had been using computers since 1983 and was on the Internet before it was called the Internet and all it was was text-based bulletin boards. Most of the assignments were writing the most mundane programs in BASIC. They were so easy that I was writing the programs in MS Word; I didn't even have to use the actual programming/execution environment, because I knew the programs would work. During lab times, I was the de facto Teaching Assistant because the class was so big and the professor couldn't get to everyone. The only drawback was when the professor announced that anyone with a 95% average was exempt from the final. I had a 94% average, and even after I brought-up the fact that I was basically his TA during the labs, he still made me take the final. I still got an A in the class, but waking up early for one exam that day sucked!

The most fun course I took was fencing. I had knocked myself out in my freshman year taking multiple 5 credit courses for my major (political science), so by the end of my 1st semester of my senior year, I had completed my major requirements and had only to amass a few more credits to graduate. So I took stuff like fencing, lifeguard certification, art history, etc. During the fencing class, I learned the formal sport/art of fencing. I grew up on old movies like "The Seahawk" and "Zorro" where swordplay was the main action. I learned to emulate the stars of those movies, so that by the time I took this course, I was disarming my opponents by the second week. The instructor kept telling me that disarming opponents wasn't part of formal fencing. I didn't care, I kept doing it. There was one other guy in the class who had a natural talent for fencing, and eventually we paired up and would duel eachother to a standstill. Against other students, we were unbeatable. I think this class was the most fun I had in college, aside from chasing the females...

Response by MSG Gerry Poe made Mar 13 at 2015 10:04 AM

MSG Gerry Poe — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 10:04:37 -0400

I was a fan and love my Microeconomics Macroeconomics class.

Response by CMC Robert Young made Mar 13 at 2015 10:24 AM

CMC Robert Young — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 10:24:56 -0400

Ethics in Leadership while earning my MA in Organizational Leadership. Really made us think!!

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Mar 13 at 2015 11:12 AM

Lt Col Jim Coe — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 11:12:41 -0400

Project Management was the most useful. It brought together knowledge from business, human relations, and statistics in a practical way that helped me for many years. I highly recommend a course in project management as part of most any graduate, undergraduate or technical course of study. (check out http://www.pmi.org)

Favorite was college chemistry. I enjoyed chem lab because of the challenge of determining why chemical reactions happened or figuring out what the elements were in various compounds and mixtures. If your curriculum requires a "hard science" for graduation, consider chemistry instead of biology or "earth" science. If you need more than one semester of science, recommend taking chemistry first, it makes the others easier.

Response by Maj Matt Hylton made Mar 13 at 2015 11:14 AM

Maj Matt Hylton — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 11:14:58 -0400

I was a Chemistry Major, my favorite class = "History of Chemistry in Warfare" taught by an retired Army Chem Corps LT COL at VMI. We basically learned about the evolution of chemistry in warfare from the first use of gunpowder, to understanding shape charges, onto chemical weapons used during WWI and then up to current use of different compounds in homemade explosives. This was in late 2001 though, so we didn't get into IEDs yet - I imagine if they still offer the course it has probably incorporated that as well.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Mar 15 at 2015 12:55 PM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 12:55:10 -0400

I'm currently taking my Liberal Arts Capstone: Military Focus (Final class for my degree) and the actual focus is on Critical Thinking. Thus far, great class, great discussion. Enjoying the heck out of it.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Mar 15 at 2015 4:47 PM

LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 16:47:50 -0400

My favorite class (for my BS) was probably UCLA Environmental Chemistry.

If I hadn't been focused on pushing through for my degree because of my 2 year ROTC scholarship, I might have taken more, follow on classes. I found it to be extremely compelling, and could have seen myself in that field. That was 1982. It's a much more exciting and lucrative field today...

Response by LT Jessica Kellogg made Mar 15 at 2015 7:14 PM

LT Jessica Kellogg — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 19:14:16 -0400

Intro to Forensic Anthropology was pretty fun. I also was in the college choir and orchestra all through college and loved that.
As far as most useful, probably my two internships (does that count?)