A W on a college transcript means you have withdrawn from a course after, what we call, the add/drop period. For some reason there seems to be a stigma surrounding the W. You dropped a class more than 3 weeks into the semester? You couldn’t just keep up with the class?

Is it really that bad? Afterall, it doesn’t affect your GPA.

I was always a hard working (almost A) student, and I would have never thought I would drop a class. Normally, like if I were in high school, I would feel stupid and ashamed for dropping a class. I would have wavered and wavered on whether or not I should drop or continue. But, this time, it hit me in a few seconds.

I sat looking down at the mess on my desk. How the f*ck am I going to finish this assignment by tomorrow night? I don’t understand what she wants from me? Paint? Use magazines? Let me mention: this was an intro to design class. Once I realized there was no possibility of finishing this assignment I looked to the class “food poisoning” excuse and said that I would need to miss class.

At that moment, it hit me. Why not just drop the class?!

Ok, it didn’t hit me that quickly. I did think about doing a pass-fail. I thought about how bad it would be to just miss this one assignment. I thought about whether or not I should just ask for an extension. Alas, I realized none of this was worth my time. I wasn’t enjoying the class. The teacher did not respect my art. The class was giving me anxiety. Worst of all, I was paying a $350 fee for this (which I wrote a full page letter on requesting a refund for).

I’m more than proud and happy for not letting the weight of one class drag me down. One could argue that this makes me a weak student for not being able to keep up. But it’s hard juggling academics, work, sports, church, and career development, all on top of having to take care of your well-being. So, I would argue that this makes me a stronger person. I understand how much I can handle at once.

Of course, there could have been other ways of going about the issue. I could work less hours. I could skip a practice. I could decide to not attend connect group at church. I could dedicate less time volunteering at the career center. I could cancel my plans to help out my friend on set. Heck, I could just stop writing for the Odyssey.

But, I need to work to have money to study abroad. I would be a bad example as a captain if I skipped practice. I would not be getting my dose of fellowship if I miss meetings with connect group. I would feel dissatisfied for not committing to helping the career center. I would not be the friend I am if I were to cancel and not show up on set. And I would not be doing what I enjoy if I stopped writing for the Odyssey.

I would consider this like an economics lesson. There are benefits. But, benefits come with opportunity costs. The reason we study economics, though, is that it is complicated. We make thousands of decisions a day without even knowing it, and prioritizing is not the easiest task in the world. Why would organizational skills be so commendable?

All in all, there comes a time where you might reach your tipping point, and I would have gotten close if I hadn’t dropped the class. I want to remind everyone that sometimes you gotta take the L, even though it means a W on your transcript. But is it a loss after all? I don’t think so.