Hamilton boasts about its open curriculum. “Come on in,” they say. “Take

whatever

you want.” All you need to fufill the requirements are a couple classes in addressing Physical Education, Quantitative Symbolic Reasoning and Writing Intensity. Easy. Most poeple have it done by second semester sophomore year, if not sooner. Coming to college having absolutely no idea what I wanted to do and feeling like I finally deserved some freedom in the classes I chose, I loved the idea.

Since being here though, it sometimes feels like there are too many options. Until this fall, I had never heard qualms against the open curriculum. Yet, one of my professors voiced that he had always been against the idea, since in his eyes 19 and twenty year olds still need some form of guidance. And while my little, “I can do whatever I want” voice was opposed to this proposed parental guidance, my larger, “I still have no idea what I want to do” voice reminded me that I still have no idea what I want to do with my life, much less which classes I want or need to take.

The majority of college and universities require general courses to provide students a basis for the rest of their classes and, evtually, the real world. These General Education Requirements take up as much as a third of a student’s college courses. Here at Hamilton, students take whatever they are interested in and by doing so, hopefully find passsion in one of the many subjects we are open to try. This is a great idea; however, a few supporting measures are necessary. Hamilton has the advising system, the First Year Experience program, and Peer Advisors to support students through the open curriculum. Yet, the idea of having requirements that help all students have an equal standing intrigues me, especially in the context of life post-Hamilton. While I am sure not everyone wants to take a mandatory finance or cooking class, perhaps it could be helpful. In 8th Grade I learned how to balance a checkbook and write deposit and withdrawal slips in a mandatory accounting class. While I had no interest in going into online banking, I found it extremely empowering to know the basics of banking for the future.

Similarly, when I was abroad in London, I had to cook for myself. And while I managed not to posion myself or my roommates, I learned I really needed to expand my cooking abilities. One cannot survive on soup and salad and the occasional bagel forever. Yet with my current course load, full of rigorous writing and problem sets, whenever I see the promotions from Bon Appetite for cooking classes, I can never prioritize it over my work. I do not need to know how to cook now; I can go into Commons or McEwen and grab whatever I want, whenever I want. It is premade, prepaid, and fresh. Why should I spend time learning how to cook when I have that easy option?

The general theme or schema of issue that I am trying to make clear is that basic skills of adulthood are lacking in Hamilton’s curriculum. The question of whether or not it is the responsibility of Hamilton to give us these skills is not an easy question. I understand the argument that it is not the institutions job to provide us with life skills, but I chose Hamilton because I believed that the open curriculum would provide me the opportunity to develop skills inside and out of the classroom.

So yes, Hamilton’s open curriculum is a staple innovation as it puts the responsibility of students’ futures and breadth of knowledge in students’ hands. While this is great,we sometimes forget that we have the rest of our lives after Hamilton that also needs to be taken into consideration. We will have to eat things other than soup and salad and have to balance our checkbooks and deal with banks and interest rates and mortgages. Phew. When it hits you, it can be a little overwhelming, but there is a very simple solution.

By the time students are seniors here, odds are they are cruising through their thesis and trying to figure out their “After Hamilton” plan. It is daunting, trying to figure out your future, where to live, what you want to do and to add to all of that, odds are, you are broke. It may sound ridiculous, but having a cooking or accounting class might be helpful in taking at least some of the pressure of the real world off of our already over worked shoulders. Additionally, it would give seniors the chance to hang out with peers they might have not met before. Imagine, an Econ major meeting an Art major in a cooking class. I heard a story once that a woman met her husband spring of her senior year. With a “Real Life Requirement” (RLR), that could be you! And it is an added bonus if you are in it for a spouse. You will find out if they know how to cook or if they can handle balancing the checkbook!