Inventory

The semester is underway! Friendships have been rekindled in the UCEN, syllabi are littering the halls of MSB, and the freshmen have discovered the best way to walk from the First Street Residence Hall to the White Building. These are all signs that UM-Flint is alive once again. And with all that comes my bi-annual ritual of taking stock of my commitments. As an active student, time management is incredibly important. If I don’t prioritize now, it will only lead to disaster down the line.

So walk with me for a moment as I wander through my major engagements for this fall. Seeing as I only have so much room here, I’ll spare you all the extraneous details and just focus on my classes for the semester.

Up first, we have the infamous Basic Statistics and Probability. This is the first math-centric course I have taken since my sophomore year. According to the syllabus, it looks as if we have four exams throughout the semester with almost weekly homework assignments that will be turned in for credit. That doesn’t sound too bad. The real issue is, however, that this class is 7-8:40pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Yuck. Beyond that, from the few lectures that I have sat through, the material seems manageable as long as I do the practice problems and pay attention while in class. This is one of those courses I can’t miss because what the professor explains to us will be infinitely easier to understand than reading the book.

Verdict: Thanksgiving dinner with that annoying Aunt whose green bean casserole you always avoid.

Next let’s talk about my online course, Developmental Psychology. Through the grapevine that is college, I have heard Developmental is not hard by any means. It is actually interesting and pertinent to our lives. I mean, we each developed from tiny balls of cells to the misguided and often confused young adults we are today. What better way to spend your time than finding out why and how we came to be? My only issue is that this is an online class. Online classes and I have not had the best track record. And if this is an indicator of my future success in the course, then I guess I should actually start doing the work as I have barely looked at the class since the semester began. Oops!

Verdict: That rash you ignored has spread and you’re now stuck taking an antibiotic twice a day for a month.

Probably my favorite class this semester, Social Psychology is looking to be not only interesting but fun to take. This course has the most people in it that I know already, so that is a plus, and I am familiar with the professor’s style of teaching, another check in the pros column. This all adds up to me being excited to go to class every day. So I’m optimistic. Albeit this is the second full week of school. Talk to me again in eight weeks and I may tell you something different.

Verdict: You will be young and beautiful forever!

Last we have the only class that actually pertains to my major area of study. The Bible as Literature: The Old Testament. All English majors are required to take an ancient literature course. Unfortunately this class was not one that I was even mildly interested in. It simply fit into my schedule. I heard from my fellow English major friends that this class plays more like a History course than an English course. Great, so the only English class I have is actually a History class in disguise. But so far I have only fallen asleep once. Baby steps, right?

Verdict: Your mom has asked you to take out the trash five times now and you finally get to it, only to discover a raccoon has somehow snuck into the garage and had a bountiful feast in your honor.

Joking aside, it is important to understand which classes will be more demanding of your time, energy, and effort. Allow yourself more time to study for classes you are not as strong in. Find study groups for classes that you can’t understand simply from lecture notes and the readings. Visit the Academic Advising and Career Center and get a tutor. Do what you need to do to make it through this semester. The university understands and does its best to offer services and create an environment where we can succeed.

With that said I welcome you all to climb aboard the struggle bus and let’s start off the semester right!