Every year of my college career has started off the same way. As in, every year since before I even set foot on my college campus freshman year, my last few days of summer have been riddled with schedule anxiety, and have consisted of me staying up until well past midnight, multiple days in a row, with my face shoved in front of my laptop, trying to figure out how I'm going to get into the classes I want or need. Basically, I try and try to fix my schedule.

By fix, I really just mean redesign it entirely, and that is a struggle all its own. It's also a struggle that, if you're anything like me, you've probably faced a few times yourself.

Scheduling classes yourself is really nothing short of a nightmare. By the time you figure out that perfect schedule, every class you want is full, or not being offered, or not open for some reason or another. Or, every time you find a class you want to take, it overlaps times with another class you need. There's pretty much always something, and when there's always something going wrong, there's always something to stress about - and here's how you're going to get through it.

First thing's first, take a few deep breaths. If you get too worked up about it, you're not going to accomplish anything. If nothing else, you might make things worse. The best thing to do is calm down, and maybe realize that a great schedule takes time, and even if it's the first day of class and you still don't like your schedule, you can rest assured that you do always have time. If you don't figure it out this semester, you still have more semesters to come. It's important that you realize that one semester of classes you might not want to be in, or even two or three, isn't going to hurt what you're trying to accomplish in the long run.

Once you've calmed down your worrying a bit, it's a good idea to try and make an appointment with an academic advisor. They'll help you talk through your schedule, figure out what you need and can get in to, and basically make you feel a whole lot more secure about the classes you're taking, and may even help get you into some better ones. If you can't find an open advising appointment, you're next best thing might come in the form of friends or family. Find someone close to you, and talk through your schedule with them. Ask them if it looks good, and ask for suggestions on how to improve it. You wouldn't believe how helpful something as simple as that can be.

If all else fails, try and make your scheduling troubles into something good. Take it as an opportunity. If you couldn't get into any classes for your major, try to take some classes that you're interested in, but never had time for instead. You might learn something fun and boost your GPA at the same time. Or, take some GPA boosting classes altogether. If you could only just barely get into enough credit hours, take that extra time those fewer hours give you to join some clubs or take part in fun activities. Make the most of your college experience, and let your schedule allow you to do that.

When it comes down to it, the most important thing to remember is that you can't give up. A great schedule takes time, and you have it, whether you realize it or not. Things are going to work themselves out, and no matter how you're feeling right now, you can rest assured that you're going to have a great semester.