At the beginning of your college career, four years seems like a lifetime. When you walk across the stage to accept your diploma, your college career will seemed to have just started only the day before.
Between the hustle and bustle of college life, extracurricular activities and social engagements, time in college seems to move faster than anywhere else. Time can fly by without anyone noticing, so it is no wonder why many students focus solely on classes within their major. It is an understandable mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. 
Depending on your major and department, there are different numbers of required elective courses required to graduate. For example, my major, political science, falls within the College of Arts and Sciences here at Mississippi State University. I must take 36 hours of political science courses, and 124 hours overall. Therefore, I must take 88 hours, or about 30 classes, of non-political sciences courses.
Considering the many elective hours required, you will have classes which are too hard, too boring, too frustrating or just not worth the effort in the end. With the sizable quota to be met, you will have failures.
That being said, it is nearly certain you will have success along the way as well. Each elective course you choose is a risk, and with all risks, some turn out to be busts. However, all you need is for just one of those 30 classes to be great in order to change your life forever.
College should be the most life-changing four years of your life. For most of us, it is our first time living on our own, managing our own daily routines and truly planning out our lives. College should not just be a stepping stone to getting more money later down the line, you should view it as the best time of your life to experiment, take risks and discover yourself.
Each elective course is a tiny experiment with little risk and major rewards. As Katie Glasner, the co-chair of the Barnard College Dance Department states in Teen Vogue, “In order to be brilliant at anything, you’ve got to live life.” 
There are even more practical uses for elective courses most students fail to incorporate within their college careers. While some electives can be life-changing, not all must be life-changing in order to leave an impact.
According to USA Today College, elective classes can help to broaden horizons. 
“Some (electives) teach useful life skills that everyone should know, but don’t always get a chance to learn,” USA Today College explains.
Classes like finance, computer science, communication and philosophy all teach vital life lessons to enrich your knowledge of the world, or equip you with better skills for your future. Those new skills could also look very appealing on a job application or during an interview.
Every college student should take multiple elective courses during their time here at Mississippi State University, because those classes can only serve to benefit you.
For every boring and seemingly pointless dud of a class, there are several more interesting classes ready to be explored. It only takes one interesting class to change your life for the better. One minor, double major or changed major can set yourself apart from others, but it can also birth the true you.