You’ve heard of figs, right? No, not the kind you can eat. These are First-year Interest Groups (FIGs), marketed on the First Year Programs website as a way to “get connected, fulfill general education requirements, and meet other new Huskies!”
The problem with FIGs, however, is that they can feel very forced. Getting connected, fulfilling general education requirements, and meeting other new Huskies tends to happen naturally in the first couple quarters of college, and it’s likely to happen through registering for interesting introductory courses, joining clubs and organizations, and meeting people along the way, rather than through a forced experience like a FIG.
Because let’s be honest, you probably have little-to-nothing in common with the people in your FIG other than maybe you were all interested in one of the classes being offered in it. And you might decide you hate that class after you start taking it, like I did, which would leave you with even less in common with these classmates.
My FIG was comprised of Informatics 101, Sociology of Sexuality, and the two-credit FIG class, which essentially exists to show you how to do basic research in a library and explore the city of Seattle (things you shouldn’t have to teach 18- and 19-year-olds how to do).
I ended up hating my informatics class; it involved a lot more coding than I was comfortable with and the professor was too kooky for my comfort zone my first quarter of college. I knew within about a week of starting it that I wanted to drop it. However, I was concerned that since it was part of my FIG package, I wouldn’t be able to drop just the one class.
I somehow managed to sweet talk my way into getting just the one class taken off my schedule, and I instead added Astronomy 101 to my class load. But then I faced another problem: While everyone else in my FIG was bonding over the struggle of to handle informatics, I was chilling. I couldn’t relate to many of my FIG-mates’ challenges with that class, and I was simply with them a lot less often than I would have been if I had stayed in the class.
Luckily, I had the privilege of having made great friendships outside the classroom, particularly with my roommate and other people who lived in my dorm. But if I had been relying on the FIG to provide friendships with other “new Huskies,” I would have been totally out of luck.
So there were two checks against the FIG. First, I was unsure why I had taken a “package” of classes when one of the classes in that package was totally unsuited for my interests. And second, I wasn’t vibing with all the people in my FIG.
If those two things weren’t enough for me to regret taking the FIG, I also totally hated the two-credit class attached. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it was the biggest waste of two credits I took at the UW.
The class, which as I mentioned above was largely an “introduction to college/Seattle/independence” experience, just wasted my time. I was already enjoying my time in a new city, and had been exploring new neighborhoods every weekend. I didn’t need to be writing reports and giving bogus PowerPoint presentations on that, too. I also had learned how to use libraries in high school, and the UW library system couldn’t be any easier with the online library database. As I said before, I didn’t need to spend my time having this information spoonfed to me.
Maybe for some students –– those who didn’t know what field they were interested in, or weren’t motivated to join new clubs and explore Seattle –– needed the FIG. But for me, it was simply a drag on my first quarter of college. Instead of providing me with opportunity, it felt limiting, which was a disappointment.
Instead of enrolling in a FIG, take classes that sound interesting, ones that are different than anything that could have been offered in high school. I could have just enrolled in Sociology of Sexuality; I didn’t need to take it with the FIG.
And to “get connected” and “meet other new Huskies,” join some clubs. No matter what you’re interested in, the UW definitely has something to offer you. And you’re way more likely to meet people you can relate to in these places than you would be in a forced FIG.
Reach Opinion Editor
Rebecca Gross
at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @becsgross
