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Voices of ACES Blog

Taking The Challenging Courses

Katie Baker

I remember when I first came to the University of Illinois, I was determined to get the best grades and leave with a 4.0 GPA. Unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards for me. I know several people that have outstanding GPA's, but I had a rough first semester that brought my average down. The rest of my sophomore and junior years I worked hard and took "easy" courses to bring my grade average back up. Granted this looked good on my resume, but I wasn't taking classes that peaked my interest.

My advice that I have for anyone entering ACE or the university is to take the tough classes in topics that you are interested in or think that you could have an interest in. I was warned that ACE 428, a commodities class, was challenging and had a long paper due at the end of the semester that scared some students from taking the course. I did have an interest in the markets, having come from a family farm I wanted to learn more about this part of agriculture.

I took the class and am happy that I did. I did well since I had a genuine interest in the material. The long paper at the end of the semester helped me wrap up and comprehend the material.

Overall, my suggestion is to not only take the "easy a" classes but take those that challenge your thinking and spark your interest, even if they aren't the most popular choices.