私が大学生だった当時、入学式後のキャンバスで、授業科目選択における「楽勝科目」や「ドハマリ授業」の情報を紹介する、学生サークル発行の情報誌が飛ぶように売れていることに強い違和感（注1）を持った。むしろ単位取得が難しいとされる「ドハマリ授業」を選択するほうが自分の成長につながるのではないか。そう考え、友人たちが「楽勝科目」を中心に授業を選択する中、あえて「少人数の自主ゼミのため出席が厳しい」とか「教授の話は極めて難解。近づかないのが無難」といった評判の授業を選択した。
実際に授業を受けてみたところ、情報誌に書いてあることはかなり正解だった。確かに教授の活は難解で、睡魔（注2）との戦いだった。なるほど「ドハマリ授業だ」と思った。しかし、転機（注3）は間もなくやってきた。授業内容があまりにも難解だったため、講義終了後、先生をつかまえて質問をしてみた。するとその回答は意外とわかりやすかったのである。それで味をしめ（注4）、質問を繰り返すうちにそれが楽しみになっていった。時には時間が足りなくなり、教授と一緒に飲みに行くこともあった。居酒屋で人生の先輩に聞く話は刺激的だった。（中略）自分のほうから積極的に授業に関与することで、受けている授業が面白くなった。自分で考えて、自分から動くことの重要性を学ぶことができたのは大きな収獲だった。これで私は大学内という狭い世界から、一歩「社会化」することができた。
「楽勝科目」だけを選んで、楽しいラクな学生生活を送ることだけを考えていたら、こうした成長をすることはできなかっただろう。
（佐藤孝治「〈就活〉廃止論 会社に頼れない時代の仕事選び」PHP研究所による）
（注1）違和感：周りのものと合わない感じ
（注2）睡魔：こらえきれないほど眠たい感じ
（注3）転機：ある状態から他の状態に変わるきっかけ、変わり目
（注4）味をしめる：一度上手くいったことから、次もそれを期待すること
AI translation, cross-checked between two models.
When I was a university student, after the entrance ceremony I felt strongly uncomfortable seeing information magazines published by student clubs, introducing “easy-credit courses” and “extremely difficult courses” for class selection, selling like hotcakes on campus.（注1） Wouldn't choosing the “extremely difficult courses,” said to be hard to earn credits in, actually contribute more to my own growth? Thinking this way, while my friends selected mainly “easy-credit courses,” I deliberately chose classes with reputations such as “attendance is strict because it is a small, independently run seminar,” or “the professor's lectures are extremely difficult to understand. It's safest to stay away.”
When I actually took the classes, I found that what the magazine had written was fairly accurate. The professor's lectures really were difficult to understand, and every class was a battle against drowsiness.（注2） I thought, “It really is an ‘extremely difficult course.’” However, a turning point soon came.（注3） Because the class content was so difficult, I caught the professor after the lecture and tried asking questions. To my surprise, the professor's answers were quite easy to understand. Encouraged by that success, I kept asking questions, and before long I began to enjoy it.（注4） Sometimes we ran out of time, and I would even go out for drinks with the professor. The stories I heard at the pub from someone more experienced in life were stimulating. (Omitted) By actively involving myself in the classes, the courses I was taking became interesting. Being able to learn the importance of thinking for myself and taking action on my own was a major gain. In this way, I was able to take one step beyond the narrow world of the university and become more “socialized.”
If I had chosen only “easy-credit courses” and thought only about enjoying an easy, pleasant student life, I probably would not have been able to grow in this way.
(From Sato Koji, Abolishing “Job Hunting”: Choosing Work in an Age When You Cannot Rely on Companies, PHP Institute)
(Note 1) Sense of discomfort: the feeling that something does not fit with what is around it.
(Note 2) Drowsiness: a feeling of sleepiness so strong that it is difficult to resist.
(Note 3) Turning point: an occasion or point at which one state changes into another.
(Note 4) To get a taste for something: after something works well once, to expect the same success again the next time.
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