I sat through an introductory sociology class as a science major

And the only thing I learned were the lyrics to a Lil Wayne song

I’ve sat through my fair share of rough classes. From engineering mechanics and calculi (apparently this is the plural of calculus) as an Engineering major, then medical embryology and both organic chem classes as a Neuropsychology major, I’ve sat through some of the harder classes here at Penn State. But I thought it’d be fun to see how the better half has it.

So this week I decided to sit through an extremely easy Gen Ed, Soc 001.

According to the course description site, Soc 001: Introductory Sociology, studies “the nature and characteristics of human societies and social life,” and then goes into a few paragraphs of some big words like “social stratification” and “systematic” to make it sound more important than it probably is; basically this class is about everything you should’ve been taught in your first grade social science class.

So when 2.30pm rolled around, I dragged my friend, Madison, with me and we embarked on our journey to 112 Kern.

This was the first bad sign:

How am I supposed to survive 50 whole minutes without food OR beverage is my only thought. Upon entering the lecture hall, I found about 75 percent of the room was breaking this rule, which relaxed me a little.

To my dismay, the entire back row was full and we had to sit in the second to last row instead. We plopped down between two students and got ready for the lecture. The girl next to Madison seemed more put together than I’ve ever been.

Kat Korolischin is a freshman International Politics major and is taking the class to fulfill her GS requirement. “I have to take this. It’s an easier introductory course. I feel like it’s an important class to take.”

I smiled and agreed, but she could tell I thought the class was bullshit. “I love learning,” she added unenthusiastically. This made me laugh.

Madison and Kat

The class started with a handout being passed out and an overview of what we were going to cover, something about norms and deviancy. Basically, people do things differently.

No shit. I didn’t need 50 minutes and thousands of dollars to be taught this.

I give Madison a “only 49 long minutes left” look and she comments that the professor sucks because “he didn’t give out candy or play music before class.” I wholeheartedly agreed.

We learn about how norms are relative and depend on culture, subculture, and the situation. Don’t these all basically mean the same thing?

As the class slowly moves on, the professor stops and nonchalantly asks a kid in the second row if he was successfully punched in the face. The kid tells the professor that wasn’t him and the class moves on.

I look around the class and see a few people vigorously taking notes, but a majority of the class seems to be scrolling through Twitter and Instagram on their phones. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks this class is a joke.

40 minutes remaining.

Our first clicker question. I decide to participate for shits ‘n’ giggles and pull out my clicker. I ask the kid next to me for the clicker frequency. He politely ignores me without even looking up from Reddit. The question is literally word for word from the previous slide about deviance. I scoff and scroll through BuzzFeed.

38 minutes remaining.

The next question. This one’s a lot better.

The class laughs and everyone polls in.

A couple minutes later, a girl a couple rows in front of me starts watching what sounds like a Snap Story on full volume. The girl in front of me is still plastered to her insta feed. I still haven’t learned a single thing. The topic continues on right and wrong.

36 minutes remaining.

Madison receives two snapchats of male genitalia and I’m pretty sure the whole back row sees it. This is quickly followed by the professor showing a disturbing clip of a Japanese chef stabbing a live frog and serving it to a customer with its eyes and legs still twitching. Across the room I here what sounds like someone crying and a guy laughing. The whole row of girls in front of me is screaming and turning their heads away.

The next video is of a member of the group the Insane Clown Posse, an apparent “horrorcore” rap group comprised of individuals dressed as post-apocalyptic clowns. It’s comical in an uncomfortable white trash way. I still don’t understand what the point of this class is.

I start talking to Madison about how irrelevant the class is and she still can’t believe this is actually a class when a rap song starts playing. I look up and, I kid you not, the professor has started playing Lil Wayne. Not only that, but the entire lyrics for “Pussy Monster” are pulled up and he’s using his pointer to guide us through the lyrics.

“Pussy, pussy, pussy.”

The song ends. “ I don’t get what you’re getting at, Mr. Wayne,” the professor notes while clearing his throat. He starts talking about the lyrics and just hearing him repeat “pussy monster” creates a mixture of nervous laughter and cringing throughout the lecture hall.

After this theatrical display of apparent sociology, we move on to the topic of stealing and when it’s okay. We’re asked to brainstorm situations with a partner. I try the kid next to me again. I still don’t think he knows anyone is even sitting next to me.

Me and my uncooperative neighbor

I look at Kat, who’s now browsing who knows what on her laptop. At this point, I think everyone has given up on learning anything in class, as if there were actually anything to be learned.

5 minutes remaining.

Everyone starts to pack up, but the professor keeps talking through his slide, hoping at least one student is still listening. I follow suit and start to get my stuff together when I notice the worksheet passed out at the beginning of class. As I peruse it, I notice not one thing we mentioned in class is on the worksheet. I don’t get it.

3 minutes remaining.

Everyone is leaving and he’s still rambling on about the definition of norms and deviancy. If you don’t understand what deviancy is by the end of this 50-minute lecture, I’m seriously questioning how you graduated fourth grade. If you don’t have a 100% in this class, you must be brain dead. Even then you could still probably pull an A- easily without attendance points.

1 minute remaining.

Everyone has cleared the lecture hall and the professor has finally given up for the day. Poor guy.

I wish I could give the guy credit and say I learned something productive, but the only thing I got out of 49 minutes in this class was that hearing the word “pussy” from a man in the mid to later years of his life is just as uncomfortable as you would imagine. But maybe this is the “norm” in sociology classes. Or is it deviant? Still unsure.

But the free small coffee at ABP made the trip to Kern worth it. Thanks Soc 001, I guess.

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