Question about Williams College PE Requirement

insatiablecritic
Fri, 20 Feb 2015 04:41:50 +0000

As said above, not stressful at all, so please don’t worry about this! I’m the farthest thing from an athlete, and I’ve had fun completing my PE requirements.

Though Williams academics run on a semester schedule, with winter study in between, PE runs by quarters. Which is great, because it means each PE class is only something like 5 or 6 weeks long, so if you realize you hate what you’re doing, it’s not all that much time wasted. But it’s also very easy to find stuff you won’t hate doing.

There are classes run by the PE department–I took figure skating one quarter, quite fun! There are classes run by WOC, the outing club, for things like hiking, canoeing, rock climbing (Williams has a wall). If you’re an athlete, your sport counts as a certain number of PE credits (again, not an athlete, so I don’t know the exact numbers; I do know that people I know who are 2-sport athletes won’t have to take any PE class). There are some individual training options (if you’ve taken 3 PE credits, you can do individual weight lifting, for example, and get credit for it).

During winter study, there are very, very fun winter sport classes; taking 3 3-hour lessons counts as 1 PE credit. I’d never gone skiing in my life, and I’m so glad I took advantage of the opportunity to do so. There’s a big sign-up night at the beginning of winter study to buy discounted passes to Jimminy Peak, the local small but adorable alpine ski mountain, as well as to sign up for classes. I bought a 3-visit pass and signed up for my 3 skiing lessons, and they were a great time. During winter study, you can also do nording (cross country) skiing, snowshoeing, and I’m sure a bunch of other things that I’m forgetting.

So, lots of options. I guarantee you’ll find something that you’ll genuinely look forward to doing!