5 College Classes I Wish I Took

In May 2022, I graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in journalism with minors in political science and journalism. It’s one of my life's greatest accomplishments to date, and it led me to thinking about my degree.

During my time in higher education, I completed a total of 39 courses in a wide variety of subjects, especially within my major and minors. There’s so much knowledge I learned over the years from these courses.

I also took many courses for fun as well. Even then, there were many courses I wish I would’ve taken if I had the time in my schedule. Here are 5 of them for example:

1. Screenwriting

Like many of you, I’m an aspiring writer with my toes in the water thus far and in the beginning stages. I write on a wide variety of subjects like music, books, history, personal development and fiction.

But one type of writing I wish I knew more about is screenwriting for movies and television. College would have been the greatest venue for learning such a subject because it would’ve open my eyes to it while also honing my craft.

Who knows, maybe a script would have been created with my name on it. This can still happen in life, but I wish I learned more of the skills needed in this type of writing at college.

2. Money Management

We all earn and spend money. It’s who the world moves and operates. It’s much of how we live our lives.

Don’t you wish you knew how to manage it a little bit better than you do? I know I wish I knew more about it. College would be the place to dive much deeper in this topic as it is the stepping stone before adulthood.

I manage money pretty well currently but learning more about this college would have elevated my knowledge in the future. Oh well, I can still learn this. It’s never too late.

3. Building Your Personal Brand

Many of us have a personal brand. Especially as writers, it’s almost crucial for our careers. It’s how we are noticed, read and known in the writing community.

If I learned more about this in college, it would have catapulted me to a career worth loving. I’m building my personal brand every day, but I think college should have been the place to learn more about this, not after graduation.

I can’t change history, but I’m hoping I can help others in the future with this. Take a college class on building your personal brand. It might help you in the long run.

4. Art History

I don’t know much about art. As far as I go with the field is drawing cartoons every now and then and visiting an art museum about once a year.

College is a great time to explore new areas of interest and this topic would have been a great one to pursue. I could’ve learned how art is made, the artist behind the work and why we should appreciate art.

It would have made me a more cultural person while also enhancing my love for history and art. Who knows, I could still pursue this in the future.

5. Cooking

College is more than making microwave popcorn and pizza rolls. It should be a time we learn how to cook real meals for ourselves.

If I would’ve taken a cooking class at college, it would have expanded my horizons and pallet in the cooking world. I learned a little bit on my own but a professional class would have been a memorable one during my time in college.