The Miami Plan is a curriculum that requires students to enroll in courses outside of their major for the expansion of the intellectual palette and equipment of life skills. In theory, the Miami Plan is perfect for young people finding their own identities and figuring out what they want to do with the rest of their lives.
But in practice, these requirements can hinder students' college experience.
Like every student at Miami University, I have to take classes in subjects that don’t pertain to my major. I’ve always loved to learn, and so when I found out about the Miami Plan, I was excited — I thought I would get to choose topics that interested me that I usually wouldn’t have space for because they didn’t fit into my journalism major.
When registration came around, I was looking forward to picking a class on something I found interesting and made my course load easier, but to my dismay, the opposite happened. Any class I found even remotely intriguing was full, but I still had to choose a class that filled one of the requirements. With no other option, I was stuck in a history class covering the Crusades, HST 360V.
By no means am I saying that the Crusades aren’t interesting or worth studying, because they most definitely are — I just don’t want to be the one studying them.
I acknowledge that the class has definitely expanded my academic horizons, but I also know that I will never revisit what I’ve been taught about the Crusades ever again. I go to class, do the work, take the quizzes and write the papers, all the while wishing that I was spending my time on a class that either contributed towards my major or was covering something I found interesting.
I asked a group of my peers about what they thought of the Miami Plan requirements, and all of them said something along the lines of hating getting stuck in “pointless” classes, or something about how their time would be better spent on classes for their major.
While the classes required by the Miami Plan are technically accomplishing the university’s goals of broadening students’ horizons and teaching them life skills by forcing them to enroll, students like myself ultimately despise going to the classes they never wanted to take in the first place. They spend their time learning the material, but because it’s against their will, the information will rarely be internalized or appreciated.
The Miami Plan had good intentions to be productive in its implementation, but because of scheduling conflicts and student preference, it has become more problematic by forcing students to take classes that do not interest or benefit them in their major.
Kenzi Perkins is a first-year journalism major from Somerset, Ohio. She is a staff writer for The Student in both the opinion and culture sections. She is also an active member of the Miami University Chapter of Delight Ministries.
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