Letter to the Editor: Making EDGE an Option

Dear Editor,

SUU is full of all kinds of people, students come from all over the world to enjoy SUU’s small, outdoorsy, education-rich programs. All of these students from China, Australia, Japan, Nevada, California, and all corners of Utah are here for a reason. They have a major, minor, education track in mind.

None of them, however, are here for Edge.

I am not saying that Edge is a worthless program. I think it can be very beneficial. But I don’t see why it has to be a requirement. Edge 1010 is basically just a pep talk like, “hey guys, college is good.” Trust me, students who pay $3,500 or more a semester understand that college is important. We don’t need to take a mini-course to find that out. We already know.

While I think the edge project is good for character building and may look good on a resume, it should be something students choose to do. If we are required to do it, we aren’t doing it out of the goodness of our heart, we aren’t serving for the sake of serving. Wouldn’t it look much better on a resume if we chose to do it? Rather than simply completing a requirement that our university has set forth?

We as students already have a lot of required courses to obtain our degree, we don’t need the stress of another program that we don’t care about. I think Edge is a good program, I think it would be a great option for students who are ready and willing to complete it. If it’s an elective then the students who choose to do it will stand out more, as a requirement, it really doesn’t set us apart from anyone else.

Submitted by: Robin Nelson, SUU Student