Three…two…one…GO! And they’re off!
Okay well maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal for everyone, but I know I was very eagerly anticipating class registration. I had a couple of schedules written out, just in case one of them didn’t end up how I wanted because of closed classes and the like. I thought it would be a breeze—log in to Bannerweb, select all of the classes I had written on my list, and bam…that’s it. Well, let’s just say things didn’t go quite so smoothly.
For Richmond Scholars—a group to which I belong—registration opened on July 25, while regular registration opened on the 28th. Bannerweb would only be open from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for us to register, and anything after that would have to wait until the regular registration period. Knowing that classes fill up quickly because of small sizes, all of my advisers suggested that I begin registration as early in the session as possible. So, of course, I took their advice. I sat at work waiting for the computer to read 9:00 so that I could log into Bannerweb, which was already opened in my browser—I didn’t want to waste any time or risk my planned schedule getting ruined.
I waited and waited until nine o’clock finally came around. I thought I would be ahead of the larger crowd, and I had even made sure that I wrote down the course codes so that I could register as quickly as possible. I logged into Bannerweb and navigated my way to the class registration screen. I typed in the course codes of the classes I wanted, only to find that a couple of them were already closed, even that early in the registration period. So what did I do? Go to schedule B. But the same thing happened yet again. With time ticking away and all of the other Richmond Scholars registering, I began to get frustrated. It was all supposed to just work so smoothly, but it didn’t.
So sometimes there is compromise. We cannot always go through life expecting to get exactly what we want when we want it and how we want it—because that is just not reality. There will be many instances in life when we find that we must compromise in order to continue moving forward, as opposed to insisting on having it our way and becoming stagnant in our progress. I had no choice but to look over the courses which were available in Bannerweb and select two which did not perhaps immediately appeal to me, but would still hold my interest throughout the semester and which fit into how I wanted my schedule.
I ended up with a pretty agreeable schedule: CORE (of course); Intro to Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies; Foundation of Leadership Studies; and Classical Elements of English Language. One Monday class. No early classes. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I start at 12:45 and end at 3:30, and Wednesdays and Fridays I start at 1:15 and end at 3:30. Not so bad if you ask me. I would love to have been done by 12, but that would require waking up for maybe 8 o’clock classes, and well, that just wasn’t too realistic for me. I think it is important that you try to pick a schedule that is still feasible with your normal sleeping, eating, and studying schedule. That’s what I did, and although things did not initially go perfect for me, I am scheduled and happy. 
Stay tuned prospectives…
