There are so many students in design school loving their design courses, and barely scraping by in their math, English, and history classes — rolling their eyes, sketching during lectures, and ignoring their instructors. Why? Because somewhere along the line, the unfortunate and untrue news has spread that general education courses are unnecessary for designers. Not only are they necessary, they could make or break your career.

How is it that students expect to successfully create an 8-panel roll-fold brochure, or a complex tradeshow booth without math? And, if you ever expect to own your own business, those math skills are going to come in handy when you have to do your own estimates, billing and taxes.

Writing and grammar skills may be the most underrated of the general education classes. I can’t imagine that any designer will manage to get through his or her career without doing at least a little copywriting, and without doing a whole lot of proofing. And, how will you ever make a convincing sales pitch or present a concept to a client without the skills you’ll acquire in speech class?

Even the classes that seem completely out of the realm of design — science, history, and social study classes — will be vital to your career. As a designer, you have to be a chameleon — creating a website for the finance industry one day, and working on a brochure for the construction industry the next. EVERY one of those classes is going to be helpful to you in your career. Please don’t take them for granted.

Extracted from: Creative Opera