I must thank the academic gods for pass/no credit classes. Seriously.

I actually didn’t even know this option existed. Had I known about this when I started college this past August, it would have cut my stress level in half. I wasn’t entirely worried about most of my classes, except when it comes to history…

I’ve always found history to be a bit tedious. I’m just not the kind of person that easily remember facts and dates and names of people that discovered what or conquered where or assassinated who. Doesn’t work for me. I’m more on the imaginative side; I like to be creative. I’m usually okay with general facts in any given subject, but to me history is too specific with everything. The most interesting history class I’ve ever had was probably Global History, which I had sophomore year of high school. After that, I struggled to do well in US History junior year and then Government/Economics senior year.

Somehow I made it through and now we need to fast forward to freshman year of college, where I am taking a European history course.

Now, normally I can survive with just taking enough notes to pass the final exam. However, I found myself struggling harder in college with this than I did in high school. It’s very hard to stay focused in a morning class where the professor lectures for an hour and a half. Doesn’t help that his voice is soft and soothing, either. You just want to fall asleep. Still, I tried really hard to write down all the important things that he said.

To me, “important facts” are the same as “basic facts”. I’m sure this isn’t true but for some reason I feel like the general ideas are the most important, not the details.

Not in this class.

My professor is a stickler for details and analysis. These are two things that I’m fairly good at, but not exactly when it comes to history. There’s just too much information involved. I was starting to worry about how this class would affect my GPA, especially since I got a C- on the midterm that I thought I did well one. According to my professor, I was “too general”.

Then I got the email about the deadline for pass/no credit classes. The relief I felt at reading that email was instantaneous.

The other day I made my history class a pass/no credit class. I don’t intend on slacking off or anything, but I feel safe knowing that a grade of C isn’t going to affect my average. There’s no way I’m going to let myself fail, either, because I am paying for the class and failing it and receiving no credit would be a waste of money.

At the same time, I have to wonder, isn’t making a class a pass/no credit class almost the same as just giving up trying? It’s like an easy way out of a difficult class so that you don’t have to try as hard. I can’t help feeling this way, although I am still relieved.

Still, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t glad that the option existed.