Column: Self-educating isn’t enough. Take a political science class.

It’s that time of year again.

The time of year where students gather anxiously around their laptops, fighting like weak gladiators against lions in our respective ConnectCarolina arenas. Bloodstained and tear-soaked, we pray we will make it out unscathed, hoping that the last remaining open section of our desired class is inaccurately represented by its 1.8/5 rating on Rate My Professors (“It can’t be that bad, right?” Famous last words).

It’s also that time of year where I rally as a passionate pre-law student to encourage everyone that lends an ear to listen: please include a political science class in your registration.

Objectively, it’s difficult to rank the importance of different fields of study. This is a clear truth in an environment like UNC. On a daily basis, I am fortunate to be surrounded by exceptional scholars from all backgrounds, pursuing difficult and diverse careers that will no doubt lead them to success. It’s also easy to favor one’s own field. I know I’m a biased author. We all have tendencies to look upon our own work as that of utmost importance.

I don’t write this column because I’m trying to convince you that the field of political science is more difficult than others or that it has any more validity in career pursuits, but because I hope you see that it is the single most relevant and applicable subject that young educated students should understand.

If I take chemistry classes alongside my political science major, the world will not change, despite the fact that chemistry is a highly rigorous and complex subject. I am not forced or even encouraged to dabble in local scientific communities. My wayward scientific opinions do not matter to or impact other people, nor are they directly relevant to the world around me.

If, on the other hand, a chemistry student takes political science classes, the world will certainly change. That chemistry student likely can vote. That chemistry student likely has a voice in how the government operates. Their opinions and knowledge about politics do impact other people, and they are relevant to the world around them.

Engineering, architecture, art history, journalism and physics students all have a voice in the world of politics. This phenomenon makes political science more relevant and applicable than any other selection of classes, because its real-world applications are open to everyone — regardless of background, prior knowledge or education level.

It’s our responsibility to know what is going on in the world around us. Our hope in graduating from such an institution is that we will be well-prepared to exist in a demanding, evolving and influential world. We simply cannot do this without a semblance of a political background and understanding, regardless of whatever else we may be studying.

Enrolling in college-level, professor-taught classes is a drastically different experience than teaching oneself about the political climate. Before I enrolled at UNC, I thought I had the qualifications to call myself politically versed. I had read the books; I had listened to podcasts; I had examined the theories. I knew the battleground states, the controversial Supreme Court decisions and how the political spectrum divided opinion.

But a singular class, my first-year International Relations and Global Politics course, changed all of this entirely for me. When I found myself having to reread sections of our class textbook six times over in order to understand it and when students around me asked questions about countries I didn’t even know existed, I realized I had grossly overestimated my political knowledge.

Our own assumed theories are not enough to fully develop one’s understanding of the political climate in a way that is significant. So, from your friendly neighborhood political science major, here are the three introductory classes that every student should be taking while enrolled at our university.

1. Political Science 100: American Democracy in Changing Times. In this course, you will examine the workings and function of our government. You will analyze the two-party system, the foundations of our representative democracy and the influence of culture and history on our political system.

2. Political Science 130: Introduction to Comparative Politics. In this course, you will analyze the similarities and differences between different political groups and operations throughout history and in current times, in an attempt to understand why certain political parties and government structures operate the way they do.

3. Political Science 150: International Relations and Global Politics. In this course, you will learn about the workings of governments worldwide, while analyzing theories of conflict and cooperation. You will gather an understanding of war, the global economy and human rights issues across the globe.

I urge students everywhere — not just at UNC — to own up to our responsibility to become educated about the workings of our government. To be anything but educated on the political climate is an active choice that involves turning away from the massive rush of information that presents itself to you daily. This is a time of war, of dissension, of crisis. Get educated, literally.

@madelyn_rowley

@dthopinion | opinion@dailytarheel.com