So, the big question, right? Can you actually take classes that have nothing to do with your main gig in graduate school? Lemme tell ya, I went down this road myself, and it was quite the little adventure.
My Main Grind and the Little Itch
I was deep in the trenches of my Computer Science program, neck-deep in algorithms and data structures, you know the drill. Hours staring at code, debugging, the whole nine yards. But there was this other thing, this tiny voice in the back of my head. I’d always been fascinated by, get this, ancient philosophy. Yeah, a total 180 from coding, right?
I kept thinking, “Man, I wonder what Plato was really on about?” or “How did those ancient folks think about the world without, well, Google?” This little itch just wouldn’t go away.
Figuring Out “Is This Even Possible?”
First off, I had to figure out if this was even allowed. I mean, grad school is supposed to be super specialized, laser-focused. Taking a philosophy class felt like I’d be cheating on my main subject.
So, my first step was to discreetly poke around the university website. I dug through the graduate handbook – talk about dry reading! But buried in there, I found some vague stuff about “electives” and “interdisciplinary study.” Bingo! A glimmer of hope.
Next, the scary part: talking to my advisor. Professor Davies was a legend in CS, but also super intense. I was pretty nervous. I remember rehearsing what I’d say, trying to make it sound like it wouldn’t distract me from my actual research.
I went into his office, palms sweating a bit. I laid it out: “Professor, I’m really committed to my CS work, but I have this strong interest in an introductory philosophy course. I think it might even, uh, broaden my critical thinking skills?” I cringed internally at how lame that sounded.
To my surprise, he just kinda leaned back, stroked his beard, and said, “Huh. Philosophy. Well, as long as it doesn’t mess with your dissertation progress and you can manage the workload, I don’t see why not. Might do you some good to think about something other than code for a few hours a week.” I could’ve hugged him!
The Nitty-Gritty: Getting In
Okay, advisor’s blessing? Check. Now, how to actually sign up for “Intro to Ancient Greek Thinkers”? I had to check with the Philosophy department. I remember feeling like a total outsider walking into their office. It smelled like old books, not circuit boards.
The department secretary was super helpful, though. She looked up the course, checked if there were prerequisites I, as a CS grad student, wouldn’t have (luckily, it was an intro, so no prior philosophy degree needed). She gave me a form, I filled it out, got Professor Davies to sign off on it (just a formality at that point), and then trudged over to the registrar. Boom. I was officially enrolled in a class that had zero to do with my thesis.
The Actual Experience: What It Was Like
Walking into that first philosophy class was… different. Instead of laptops and hushed coding, there were notebooks and actual, like, discussions. People were debating ideas, not compiler errors!
It was tough at first. The reading load was heavy, and the kind of thinking was totally different. Writing essays about Socrates felt a world away from optimizing an algorithm. There were times I definitely felt the strain, juggling my CS research, TA duties, and now this philosophy class. Late nights became even later.
But you know what? It was awesome.
- It was a mental palate cleanser. Switching from the logic of code to the abstract arguments of philosophy was like stretching a different muscle in my brain.
- I met people I never would have otherwise. Arts and humanities folks think differently, and it was fascinating.
- Honestly, it made me a better communicator. Trying to articulate complex philosophical ideas helped me explain complex technical stuff more clearly too. Who knew?
There was one time I almost bailed. I had a huge CS project due the same week as a big philosophy paper. I was running on fumes. I thought, “This was a mistake.” But I pushed through, and getting that philosophy paper back with a good grade, after grappling with Plato’s Forms, felt like a real win.
So, The Big Takeaway?
Yeah, you often can take unrelated classes. For me, it was totally worth it. It didn’t derail my CS degree; if anything, it made me a more well-rounded person and probably kept me from burning out completely on just one subject.
My advice? If you’ve got that itch, check your university’s rules. Talk to your advisor – be honest about why you want to do it and how you’ll manage. If you get the green light, go for it! You never know what you might discover, or how it might, in some weird, indirect way, even help your main studies. It definitely worked out for me.
