Memorandum

To: Laura Knudson

From: Austin Teeter
Date: 02/15/2016
Subject: Workshopping Experience
I was absent the day of the essay workshop. So I was unable to receive any
feedback on my paper.

Austin Teeter
Laura Knudson
UWRT 1101
02/11/2016
Cultural Myth of A Well Rounded Student
Cultural myths, you may find yourself asking, what are they? Although they
may seem confusing, you know them better then you could ever imagine.
Cultural myths are all around us in our everyday lives. Personally, I know I
face cultural myths on a regular basis. They impact my life both positively
and negatively. I would say the myth that has the biggest impact on my life
is the idea of a well rounded student.
This idea has forced me and all other students, in college, to endure 14 years
of grade school. You may say, There are only 12 years of grade school.
True, but then students in college are forced to undergo another 2 years of,
basically, the same stuff that is covered in grade school. Students have to
have general education instead of just being able to go straight into their
major-specific courses.
The biggest part of the general education curriculum that puts the greatest
thorn in my side is the university writing program. I guess, the folks who
developed the general education curriculum think everyone is trying to be a
freaking author. This course irritates me because we have been writing this
type of creative writing in English class since we started school, or at least
third grade when writing tests were beginning to be administered.

Over

those years I came to the conclusion that I was not a very talented writer.
After forming this conclusion, I came to peace with the fact that I cannot
write a paper that satisfies an English teacher.

That is why I decided to

pursue a major in engineering. I understand engineering does require some

amount of writing but the type of required writing is better suited to how I
prefer to write. You see, instead of writing these long, fluffed up, pointless
papers; engineers write short, to the point, meaningful papers. This style of
writing is taught in the engineering curriculum so it pretty much makes the
University Writing Program a waste of time, money, and effort that does
nothing but attempt to undo everything the engineering program has tried to
do.
The next part that really chaps my butt concerning general education is the
LBST program.

I have no earthly idea why or when I will need to know

anything that I will learn in the arts and society portion of the LBSTs. For
instance, I have no need to know anything I will learn in the music LBST. So
when will I need to be able to tell someone who wrote a piece of classical
music when I hear a small piece of a song? What lasting, useful knowledge
will I gain from the western culture class that Ive already taken? I do not
remember a dang thing from that course, beside the fact it was about Greek
culture. It mostly covered types of pottery and the ages in which they were
developed. I also could have replaced that with literally anything that would
help me in life after graduation.

I do not understand why there is a

requirement of 2 natural sciences. I will gain very little useful information

from geology, geography, psychology, or biology to name a few.
Of the courses that are required for everybody at the school, I found
probably half of these requirements that will be useful.

I understand

requiring a mathematical and logical reasoning course because everybody

needs to have a good understanding of mathematics. Everyone needs math
because it will be in almost everyday life from tipping at a restaurant to
doing taxes or balancing a checkbook, etc. I can see a use for knowledge
that would be learned in an economics or political science course.

These

courses could teach you, of course economics as well as a little bit about the
political system used in the country.

Things which might be taught in a

global understanding course could be useful if you pursue a career in

something that took you to a foreign country. This course may help you have
a better understanding of different cultures that may be found around the
world. The Ethical and Cultural Critique LBST is a course that, without having
taken, is kind of hard to judge its usefulness.

Depending on the actual

material it maybe something that comes in handy down the road will be
included in the curriculum, again without having taken that course I dont
know how it will help.
The section of general education that is labeled Communication Skills, looks
like it could be very helpful in an actual career field. These courses could
help because they actually pertain to the major that is being studying and
deals with types of communication required in the job field.

One of the

courses is actually designated Writing in the Discipline Course. Even though

I have not taken any courses in this category I would be willing to take a step
out on the limb and say this course will probably have a very useful
application in my career after graduation.

However I dont know if the

second Writing in the Discipline Course is necessary but I may change my

mind after the first or even at the start of the second course. This could help
because it might encompass a different, important type of writing that could
end up being a big part of my work. The last part, of the Communication
Skills section, is Oral Communication. This course I believe will be helpful for
everybody, no matter what major. This will help, in my opinion, because I
think it will help everybody become more comfortable with presenting
anything. I think this will be important because I believe most every career,
that requires a college degree, will require some type of presentation.

If

nothing else, it will help peoples posture and confidence when talking in front
of people in a high pressure situation. This trait will help when it comes to
job interviews that everybody that has and will ever have a job has to do.
In conclusion to this paper or rant, whichever you wish to call it, I find the
General Education program to be pretty unnecessary and contributory to the
cultural myth of employers desiring well rounded students. The reason I
say pretty is because there are a few courses that I think will be helpful
down the road. So I guess I would say, the program shouldnt be completely
done away with but they should definitely revise it to be more useful to the
students in their post-graduation life. The courses should be revamped to

help the student prepare for the harsh yet necessary fact and responsibilities
of adult life in his chosen field of work.