By: Andew Lin

“Heavy work-load.” “Inconvenient.” “What do you want? I’m sleeping.” These are just some of the things that come out of Babson students’ mouths when asked about college. This is not to say that Babson’s a bad place, but it does serve as an indication of the amount of stress that everyone feels. In a school filled with openly ambitious and deceivingly smart people, it is hard not to feel pressured academically by those around us – nobody likes to be the stupid one – and it doesn’t help that many of the classes we take aren’t that interesting. As a result, we study hard, but party harder, losing sleep in the process, yet still managing to find the time to procrastinate, resulting in cram sessions at three in the morning. Does this lifestyle sometimes get the better of you? Do you often find yourself yelling in frustration, throwing textbooks at roommates, and generally being a grouch? Well, Babson does offer 10 free counseling sessions – go to one.
 
For those of you who are simply tired of the hectic life of juggling a bunch of dull courses that cause you to face-plant into your desk ten minutes into class, we have a non-medical solution for you. Here are five courses that should ignite the creativity in you, challenge your thinking, or provide you with some valuable firsthand experiences that will prove to be useful in the future:

Course: The Ultimate Entrepreneurial Challenge
Professor: Leonard Green
Pre-requisites: FME1001 or (MIS1000 and MOB1000)
Ultimate? Yes, you read correctly and this course is just that. Modeled after Donald Trump’s TV show “The Apprentice”, the class is comprised of ten weeks of intense team competition and problem solving. Babson is rated number one for entrepreneurship in the country and this course is one of the reasons why. Your skills in such areas as strategy, negotiation, management, and “out of the box thinking” will be tested during the actual business and case studies assigned. It is a nonstop barrage of work and learning, but the time and effort are well worth it. As stated in the course description, “you will work harder than you have before. But, if you believe you have the passion to learn to be a successful entrepreneur, this is the class for you”.

Course: Babson College Fund
Professor: Richard Spillane
Pre-requisites: (IME2320 or MCE) and Instructor Permission
Like money? Of course you do or else you wouldn’t be here. If you also happen to like managing and investing it, then this course comes highly recommended. The Trustees of the Babson College Fund select both undergraduate and graduate students to be portfolio managers. In other words, after doing long hours of research, the students will identify stocks that are good values at their current market price and said stocks are then overweighted within a diversified portfolio. Not a bad place to start if you want to end up on Wall Street.

Course: Product Design and Development
Professor: Sebastian Fixson
Pre-requisites: IME3 or OEM
“This project-based course takes you in cross-functional teams (from business, engineering, and industrial design) through the entire process of product development from market and customer needs analysis to product design and engineering to prototype manufacturing.” I couldn’t have summarized it better myself, thanks course description. If you take this course, you will find yourself in teams comprised of students from not only Babson, but also from Olin College and the Rhode Island School of Design. This course is pretty much FME 2.0. Just that in this particular case, the product comes to life from imagination, with the help of some teamwork and passion.

Course: Mad, Bad: Rebels and Anti-heroes
Professor: Kellie Donovan
Pre-requisites: RHT and Foundation A&H and H&S
Shying away from the hands-on courses, “Mad, Bad: Rebels and Anti-Heroes” is a course that examines “how rebels and anti-heroes shape a society’s identity while living at – or beyond – its margins. We will also pay particular attention to questions of gender when considering these figures’ own identities.” You will read a plentitude of novels, plays, poetry, and cultural critique so as to follow the development of these rebels and anti-heroes, as well as understanding their cultural and historical contexts. Always liked Cartman out of all the South Park characters? Well, he’s an anti-hero. How so? Beats me, I Wikipedia-ed that, but if you want to learn more – sign up for the course!

Course: Harry Potter & Politics
Professor: Stephen Deets
Pre-requisites: 3 Intermediate Liberal Arts Courses (CVA, LVA, HSS)
And last but not least, the already popular “Harry Potter & Politics” class. Everyone loves Harry Potter, and I will ignore anybody that says otherwise. And as all readers slowly find out, the series become darker and less innocent in each successive book. Noticed serious issues worth discussing when you first read Harry Potter? Well, “This course will use the Harry Potter books both to explore issues of political culture and as an object of political culture.” Students will discuss topics such as identity, ethnic conflict, and governmental power as it appears in the books, as well as examining the reactions and effects the series has had globally. Be prepared to do a lot of thinking and analyzing. (And be happy you get to talk about wizards and muggles while other students slowly develop their hatred towards Mike and Mary).