Must Take Courses for Liberal Arts Majors

There are two classes that I believe every single liberal arts student should take. I would even go as far to say that most other majors should take them as well, but I will stick with liberal arts for the purpose of this blog post.

The first class is CNIT 136. This online class is a basic computer science class. In short, it teaches you everything you need to know about Microsoft Office. The course spends a few weeks covering Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Access.  I have been using these software programs for years, so I thought I had a good understanding of them. After taking that course though, I realized how much more these programs had to offer.  As I have been applying for jobs, I have noticed a consistency in criteria for most of the open jobs. Almost all of the jobs I go to apply for require a candidate who is proficient in Microsoft Office. It is so nice to be able to put this on my cover letter, resume and even talk about it in interviews. It has also made some of my school assignments a lot easier. In short, I would recommend this course to anyone and everyone!

The second class, while more focused towards liberal arts and communications, is still a great class to take. This course is COM 252. The title of this course is “Writing for Mass Media.” Basically, you learn all the essentials for many different types of professional writing. You learn how to write a press release, news release, media release, radio commercial, memo and so much more!  Perhaps one of the most important aspects of this class though, is that it is intensive in teaching AP style writing. If you are like me, you grew up writing with MLA style, so the switch to AP has been sudden and sometimes frustrating. I was so happy that I took this course and really learned the ropes with AP style. Now I know it like the back of my hand, which has come in handy on numerous occasions, one of those being writing tests for my potential public relations jobs.

So I will leave you with this senior insight and hope that if you still have more time at Purdue that you will consider enrolling in these courses. I promise you will thank me later!