Reflections after taking my very last College GenEd

As the first week of classes pass, one of the most awesome things about Penn is the Add/Drop period. This might mean waiting for a class to open up a seat on PennCourseAlert, but it also means having the chance to sit in different classes if you have not decided what GenEd you want to take. While major courses may feel more straightforward about what to choose, one of the best parts of the College is the GenEd curriculum, which allows students to take courses at any time of their college years to really develop their skills and perspective in both the humanities and sciences.

One of the GenEds that I took last semester was called “Books of Antiquity,” my very last GenEd to complete my College GenEds requirements. Previous to this course, I had never read a single piece of Greek or Roman literature. I had always known I wanted to but never pushed myself to find time to read a book. When I saw this course on Path@Penn during course registration period, the name of the course drew me: I did not have specific expectations beyond the idea that it would focus on classical literature. This class was a discussion based class, where we covered a wide range of Greek and Roman authors’ works, from Cicero, Catullus, Homer’s Iliad, Aristophanes’ Clouds, Ovid’s The Art of Love, Plato’s Symposium, Tacitus’ Agricola and Germania, Apuleius’ Apology, and the Book of Revelations! It was such an eye-opening class as we compared how different Greek and Roman authors’ employed different artistic license and looked at how various narratives shaped judgment and ideas about morality at the time when the work was written. Through the class, I got to not only meet a really sweet senior auditor, but also classmates from diverse backgrounds such as those in the School of Nursing and Wharton. Because of how the college GenEd brings in students from various academic disciplines, I love getting to learn how to think in different ways through listening to my peers’ insights. Moreover, I’m also so happy that I finally got to take a class with my pre-med friend, whom I have never gotten to take a class with because of our vastly different paths. Overall, this GenEd class turned out to be really enjoyable, not only because of the interesting conversations our professor guided us through but also because of how I learned so much about an area of study I had never stepped into before. 

- Yoonjung C.