Few classes can come close to comparing to ED 38. Pens, notebooks, and course readings are left at home and replaced with sweatpants, t-shirts, and sneakers. Even the normal, sterile environment of a lecture hall has been done away with. ED 38 often meets on the mats on the second floor of Alumni Gym. The overall student consensus, however, is that Testa's course is anything but a walk in the park.
Most students respond that it is more demanding than most others.
In ED 38, Testa challenges his students in more ways than they have ever experienced within the context of a college course. There is, in fact, a very demanding pen and paper component, involving extensive reading and comprehensive reading checks. But the work done outside the classroom can only mirror the strenuous in-class exercises. After 45 minutes of rowing in the crew tanks, students hit the showers to cool down from their workout. Another day is spent learning how to run the hurdles.