Classes your GPA will thank you for

First and foremost, let me tell you this: the phrase "easy class" at Hopkins is what my high school French teacher would call a "faux ami." In layman's terms, it's equivalent to a roommate who brings a pie home from his weekend with Aunt Peggy and declines to tell you that Aunt Peg's half blind and can't tell the difference between apples and pig's feet. Needless to say, you're happy because there's something besides ramen in the fridge, but after your ten minutes of blind contentment, you're left puking like a bastard, wishing you hadn't been so easily deceived.

The truth is, easy classes are all relative. Granted, there are some classes like the senior survey course on Las Vegas offered last semester which require little more than enthusiasm, creativity and an interest in the history of whorehouses and craps. I've also heard that The History of the Automobile and 100-level Writing Sems courses are the way to go. However, I have heard a lot of things. For example, numerous people espoused that Stats I was an "easy four-credit A." Well, kids, I'm here to tell you, that all depended upon whom you asked. One of my friends had no trouble getting perfect scores on our tri-weekly examinations, while another had to literally work his way out of a three-point GPA hole after bombing the first so-called "easy exam." I, myself, spent the semester trying to figure out how many times I'd have to wash and wax Donniel Fishkind's car before he'd forgive my inept inability to grasp the concept of a standard normal curve.

There are probably quite a few students who'll read this and say, "Uh, is she a moron? That class was cake," or What is she talking about? That class gave it to me." Junior Justin Gainor put it perfectly when he said, "confide in someone with similar interests and study habits. A biomedical engineer may not find a literature class very easy, while a history major may cringe at physics." So true. You wouldn't want to take a science course that your whiz-kid-Physics-major roommate said was a walk through the park. But then again, that may just be a tidbit of common sense. Your average engineer may have some trouble with that 100-level Writing Sems course, if poetry with words isn't really his thing. But, really, who am I to question the romantic tendencies of an engineer?

Another Junior, Jeff Fiorenza said that he found the most enjoyable and relaxing course he's taken at Hopkins to be Italian. Knowing Jeff, I'd say he put in his fair share of work, but he still found the Italian teachers to be "really animated." He also said, "the atmosphere in the classroom was not like that of the science courses I've taken. Everyone was really laid-back and relaxed." Just as Italians should be, I'd say.

One of my friends who also partook in the same course last semester had the opportunity to do his class project on Italian wines (while providing free samples for his classmates.) I think anyone could enjoy tasting the aroma and bouquet of a few Tuscan grapes, engineer or otherwise. I had an Intermediate French class last semester that was by far my favorite. Although I had some trouble learning the grammar, the instructor (props Claire Kew) was enthusiastic and helpful--she made it easier to crawl out of bed and face the death lane on North Charles at 8:30 every morning. And I also had the chance to test my culinary skills and nearly poison my class with a daring chocolate mousse recipe.

Another class that most students definitely shouldn't struggle in is Business Communications. Apparently, this class usually doesn't even last for its full scheduled time. In addition, the homework is reportedly easy and the material is a cynch.

So it's probably safe to say that the Europeans at Hopkins know how to do it right--learning, that is. That's probably the one conclusion that can be made about classes at Hopkins. That's not to say Romance language courses are easy--on the contrary, they can be quite difficult. However, if you're willing to put in some time, effort, and creativity, I think they can be the most fun and the most rewarding of them all.