I Have Registered for Classes Next Semester

It is difficult for me to believe that this is week thirteen of the sixteen week fall semester. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving next week so that I can spend some quality time with my family before I have to return to finish up the semester. Finals are just around the corner and looming in the shadows, hoping to catch me unaware. I will be prepared for each of them, as much as I can be, but I am exhausted and ready for the end of the semester. Carrying twelve credit hours and working almost twenty hours a week is a lot for me to keep up with, all while taking care of my family who is putting up with my crazy schedule.  

I registered for all of the spring classes that I want to take next semester; all fifteen credit hours. The way that I have arranged them will hopefully help me to keep up with the extra weight. It is not what I had planned, but my newly replaced academic advisor did not do her job. I have met with her several times, as well as having been in correspondence with her since January. She let me register for an elective class that would keep me from meeting the requirements that the university has for upper division courses. Not once did she say "we need to find an upper division elective to replace that course so that you can meet the university requirements." Now, I have to pay for another course, as well as the textbook, that I had not planned or budgeted for while working on my Bachelor's degree.

I always try to spin my circumstances in a positive light. I now have a new academic advisor who has given me more advice and support than I had previously. She also helped to get the two courses that I bombed three decades ago marked to reflect that I had retaken and passed them both. My GPA has come up enough to show that I am trying to be a good college student. My new advisor also suggested that I submit the syllabus from a psychology course and the scholarly paper that I wrote for it while attending a local community college. After reviewing both items, the Psychology Chair is allowing me to count that class as one of my three psychology electives at this university. I can take an upper division elective with those three credits to graduate on schedule by the end of the Spring 2020 semester with my B.A. in Psychology. 

With my new academic advisor's help, I am back on track and looking forward to next semester. I am also enjoying my new position on campus as a student worker to advisement in liberal arts and mass communications. I have the privilege of getting to meet and assist other students needing to make appointments with their academic advisors. My schedule is flexible around my class hours and time that I need to put towards class projects, events on campus, and preparing for exams. It is a good job, and I will keep it for as long as I can. It is not easy to find a position on campus because everyone is applying for them; it is very competitive. Another bonus is that I do not have to work evenings or weekends with my campus job. I can enjoy dinner with my family every evening, then work on my homework and get some sleep before starting my next day of classes and work. 

I hope that you enjoy time with your family and the delicious food during Thanksgiving weekend. We all need to remember that family is important and make time for it, whether it is once a week or once a month.