How Unconventional Electives Can Benefit Your Career In Unexpected Ways

by Lauren Liang ‘24

Electives are arguably the best part of the college academic experience, but choosing which ones to take can be incredibly stressful. For the longest time, I felt like every single elective I took had to directly relate to my career or building technical skills, even if I wasn’t at all interested in the elective. After all, USC’s tuition is sky-high –– why “waste” a credit on “useless” classes like The Art of Jaywalking (disclaimer: to the best of my knowledge, this is not a course at USC, and there is an art to jaywalking and not getting run over). 

Even as a senior, I still felt pressure to take classes that directly related to my career goals. But, after three semesters at USC, I figured it was time to take a break. Don’t get me wrong, it is definitely beneficial to take classes that will advance you professionally, just don’t feel too guilty if the elective you're taking isn’t “How to Get Hired 101.” If you look carefully enough, you’ll realize that practically any class can help you excel in your profession of choosing. 

For example, presenting and communication is a core skill, both in life and in corporate. It can be nerve wracking to stand in front of others and be perceived. I used to dread it. This semester, I’m taking so many performance-based electives that I don’t bat an eye at presenting my work in interviews. 

If this sounds like you, I recommend taking MPPM 120: Popular Music Performance I. Every week, you learn new music and perform it in front of your classmates in a band-like atmosphere. Since you only have a week to learn your song, you’ll get used to presenting imperfection, just getting out there, having fun, and trying your best. Students in the class are often encouraged to get up during the class and use their ears to play along to songs, even if they haven’t previously rehearsed them.

Heads up, this is masterclass-style, and it would be in your best interest to already be relatively fluent on an instrument (or confident in your vocals) before taking it. If you’re not musically inclined but still want the opportunity to build your presentation skills, you might be interested in a class like THTR 122: Improvisation and Theatre Games. While I haven’t personally taken this class, my experience doing improv in another acting class has shown me how to think on my feet and be flexible in any environment. 

Maybe you want to learn some design skills but don’t plan on doing design professionally. Taking a class like IML 230: Fundamentals of Media Design can help you build your storytelling skills, which are incredibly important both when it comes to pitching yourself in interviews and putting together PowerPoints. 

While you can make any course relevant to your career if you think about it hard enough, you also don’t have to. Taking breaks from your career development is an important part of preventing burnout: your mental and physical health is worth so much more than whatever opportunity you might gain from taking a class related to your career goals. Besides, you are so much more than what you do for work – I implore you to have hobbies, go out with friends, and embrace learning for the sake of learning. There’s nothing quite like showing up to and participating in a class that you’re genuinely excited to be taking (and not a class you had to convince yourself you wanted to take that just so happened to be a degree requirement).  Elective classes are a great way to make friends with similar interests. Take that class in medical clowning (THTR 290) even if you want to work at JP Morgan.

TLDR: while you don’t need to to justify every class you take, know you can (but don’t feel pressure to). 

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