According to the university mission statement, UNCW “seeks to stimulate intellectual curiosity, imagination, rational thinking, and thoughtful expression in a broad range of disciplines and professional fields.” Granted the connotation is nice, warm and fuzzy, but the university forgot to mention the proverbial cliff of intellectual stimulation that PED 101 just happens to fall from each academic year.

Remember high school physical education? The quintessential pairing of shorts and t-shirts that rarely made it home from the gym locker to the washing machine. The overzealous male athlete who often displaced his repressed personal frustrations by yelling incessantly at the kid hunkering in the corner during dodgeball. Most of us would like to forget those days, but low and behold, the days of physical education can be thankfully revisited during your academic career at UNCW.

There are certainly beneficial aspects of the lecture portion of the class, and I am not one to argue with a bit of physical exertion here and there, but I am also well aware that the shoe doesn’t fit us all. At a university that prides itself in a growing and diverse student body, it is necessary to mention that not every UNCW student belongs in PED 101. The administration already encourages students to participate in physical activity by offering numerous intramural opportunities on campus. Other universities require physical education courses to receive a diploma, but the students are provided with a plethora of courses.

Not only does the university require PED 101 to graduate, the Student Health Center- staffed with licensed physicians- does not provide a physical required to participate. For transfer students like myself who do not have a physical within the last year, it is an additional strain on the pockets that we don’t need. Why pay close to $150 per year in student health fees?

Yes, college is about experiencing new things, but not at the cost of humiliation. Not every human is blessed at birth with natural athletic abilities, and in some cases basic coordination, but they make up for it in other areas. What makes humans unique from the remainder of the animal kingdom, other than being bipedal, is the ability to find a niche and excel at least one particular thing, whether it is sports or academics. It just seems that a lack of prescience on the part of UNCW administration has left UNCW freshman with a bad taste in their collective mouths. As for the upperclassmen, it’s either run, or forget the complimentary roll of paper and ribbon at the culmination of our academic careers.