As the weather gets warmer and finals creep closer, campuses all across the nation are filled with panic over one task: scheduling. No matter your major or school, scheduling is equally dreaded just about everywhere you go. Being the youngest sibling, I never quite understood my brother’s complaining just about every semester about planning his courses. Unlike high school, you are pretty much on your own for this one besides (maybe) meeting with an advisor if you scheduled an appointment in time.
Even if I meet with my advisor, I still somehow leave just as confused as how I came into the meeting. The best part is that no matter how many semesters you’ve been in college for, it never gets easier, only tougher.
I’m not sure if this is just me or not, but one of the worst things about scheduling classes is the overall anxiety I feel about my future. Just when you think you got it all figured out, something else always pops up. Should I do a minor? Should I double major? Will I graduate on time? How many credit hours should I do? And the list goes on and on. Just as you feel like you are getting somewhere in your degree, you look at the list of classes still to take and you truly wonder how it’s possible for someone to take this many classes in a four year time period.
The planning of what classes to take is truly brutal. Being someone who plans to graduate on time, I’m constantly in the battle on taking too many hard classes versus taking too little. To find the perfect balance between the two is a skill I have yet to possess. Being in college for only two semesters now, I see people all across the board which has me more confused each and every day. One day you’ll meet someone taking calculus, physics, and engineering all at one time and the next day you’ll meet someone taking yoga, cooking class, and music listening. None of which are bad, but it just confuses me even more.
Think you finally got your perfect schedule for next semester all figured out? Well, think again.
Just as you go to submit the classes to your student account, somehow every single time I get that oh-so-familiar pop-up that says “class section full.” I just love that! I “luckily” came into college with some credits already which allows me to schedule a few days earlier than my peers around me. If I can’t get into any of the classes I want, how does anyone else get them? Not only do you spend hours trying to find your perfect schedule, but you also have to have a plan b and c too.
If you read all of this, you are probably just as heated as I am about scheduling and I hope you don’t get stuck with those 8 am classes that you got hit with this semester. Just think, once scheduling is done you can relax again... well until finals come around.
