When you arrive at college, there are many new things in store for you, and one part of academics that is unfamiliar territory is being able to specialize in a particular area of study, choosing classes that align with your major or minor. You don't have to spend your morning in classes you despite. Instead, you can pick and choose classes that you're interested in, and it makes the whole concept of school a lot more engaging if you're taking subjects that entertain you.
Unfortunately, when it comes to enrolling in classes for the following semester, it is rarely easy. Besides having to deal with conflicting class times, your enrollment time usually feels inconvenient, and by the time it's your turn to choose your classes, most of them are already at full capacity. And you often have to rush to email professors for permission numbers for the classes you really want to take, and with this often comes rejection if they deny your requests.
Trust me, I've been there. This past weekend was a blur in which I was a total mess, waiting for professors to email me back. My enrollment time had been on Thursday, and I'd discovered that I couldn't select my final three classes because I didn't have enough credits—which meant I needed permission numbers from the professors.
Considering this is a chaotic time for everyone, I understood why these professors took so long to get in touch with me, but it was still disappointing to wake up on Sunday morning to rejections. These emails politely stated that they were rejecting my requests to join their classes for the upcoming spring semester, but they wished me all the best.
I was back at square one, researching other classes that fit into my schedule, and I managed to pick out two that I needed. It was a complete relief to receive emails from both of these professors with the permission numbers attached, knowing that I finally had a selection of classes for the upcoming semester.
The thing is that these classes were not my first choice, and sometimes, that's okay. While you look at the broad selection of courses available to you, there will be many that stand out, and if you don't wind up taking them, there will be an ounce of disappointment because of it. But I've also taken so many classes that I never imagined I would take and found that I enjoyed them!
Last semester, I took a German culture class to fulfill my world cultures gen-ed requirement, and while I thought this would be weird considering I know nothing about the German language and very little about the culture, the course turned out to be fascinating! The subject area was unfamiliar, but once I adjusted to the professor's teaching style and material, I engaged in the class.
I've even taken a film class that I did not expect to like as much as I did to fulfill another gen-ed requirement, and that class taught me so much about how films present their themes through camerawork, angles, and positioning. It even brought me into the world of silent films (which I never expected to like), and I wound up raving about a few of those films to family members and friends when I went home for summer.
The point is to not get hung up on taking specific classes. It's okay to be rejected, and more importantly, it's okay to move on. If you remain stuck on an idea or course, you hold yourself back from the possibilities that are free to you when you throw out all of your expectations.
Just breathe, and feel okay about testing the waters. College is all about exposing yourself to new ideas, and you can't do that if you insist on walking down the same street.
