If you’re going to make me exercise, I need more than half a credit

It all started because I was a freshman without a car. I brought my snowboard to Ithaca spring semester, ready to face the dark and snowy winter ahead of me, and realized that I had no means of transportation to Greek Peak. After wallowing in self pity for a few days and crying about my sad life, I heard Ithaca College offers tons of “physical activity” classes that include Basic Snowboarding all the way up to Advanced Snowboarding.

Excited that I could finally get to shred the gnar that winter, I registered. Little did I know that I had to pay an extra $500 to the school for transportation and lift tickets, but get this … It was only HALF a measly credit.

Half a credit to spend 6 hours on a freezing mountain. Oh, and taking actual snowboarding classes were required to meet my half credit, even if you registered as an advanced boarder. Not realizing how unfair this half a credit is, I finished my snowboarding class with a cold and a little less dignity than before.

Fast forward to sophomore year and my naive self decided to take another “physical activity” class – this time yoga. I listened to my very strange professor drone on and on about his time meditating in India when all I wanted was to be just a bit more flexible and just a bit more relaxed during finals week (I was neither). After the end of that semester, another half credit was added to my transcript.

Now here I am. With 5 non-communication credits needed to graduate, I decided to sign up for yet another one of these classes because I can’t fit an actual class into my schedule. This time? Badminton. It’s half a semester, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2-2:50 pm. But wait, are you thinking what I’m thinking? That that’s exactly half of what an actual class entails? Classes at Ithaca College that are a full semester of that exact time of badminton are usually worth 3 credits. Using real life human logic, that means I should be getting at LEAST 1.5 credits for deciding to exercise.

Half a credit? Just that for dedicating my time and parent’s money to becoming a better badminton player? I realize that I probably won’t get as much homework as students in actual classes at this time, but do other students sweat and have the possibility of becoming the greatest badminton player alive during Intro to Philosophy? I think not.

Ithaca College, you’re going to need to give me more than half of a credit to get me going. I’m calling for a campus wide protest of this ridiculous scam starting today, in the Hill Center gym before the start of my intense badminton class. Bring your own shuttlecocks.