It is everyone’s favorite time of the year: finals season. However, what also comes along with finals season is registration. So, while you are writing four term papers, studying for quizzes, and trying to finish all the reading before the final week of class, you also have to get your life together for the next semester.

I have no idea who thought it would be wise to make people register for their next round of stress while the current one is still in full force, but that is how college works.

Registration is bookmarked by anxiety and uncertainty. People make an ideal schedule and then hope for the best once that 7 a.m. window opens. Their fingers typing the course registration numbers in as if they were trying to detonate a bomb. Securing the bag as far as classes go is no joke. One missed class can have your ideal schedule crumble into just that—an ideal.

My first spring registration as a freshman was me staring down my computer screen at 6:59 a.m., while all of my other roommates waited breathlessly for those last thirty seconds to pass in order for the commencement of the annual Hunger Games. I typed my little heart out and heard groans from across the room as one of my roommates didn’t get her Econ course.

In fact, it was such a heightened experience, I couldn’t even go back to sleep after. Clearly shown by my episode, it is easy to get wrapped up in the madness of scheduling, but there are three important things to remember.

The first is that there is always a waitlist that you can count on. Personally, I have had good outcomes with the waitlist. This fall, I was taken off of one of my class a week before school started. It is possible to get all of your classes by the time the first day of the semester rolls around.

Secondly, there is an add/drop period. During this magical time, you can act like you are in a fashion show movie montage and try on all the classes you thought looked interesting. Chances are, other people are doing the same. Your class might open up or you can assess the situation within the classroom and try to slide your professor an RTF form.

Lastly, sometimes it is a blessing in disguise. When you have to replace your ideal class with a secondary option, there is an opportunity to fill the slot with a class you may not have thought about. This class may be one that interests you or scares you, but either way, it is a new opportunity to explore.

College is about finding what interests you. Taking a class that wasn’t on your extensively planned out four-year plan (because I know I can’t be the only one with one of those) is not the end of the world.