I recently finished AOP (Academic Orientation Program) at Michigan State. It was pretty exciting, I met new people and experienced just a bit of college life. The sessions provided a lot of great resources and they made me really sure of the success I can achieve at State. Though AOP was fun, it made me aware of the responsibilities that come along with college. I was able to schedule classes and that’s when the real feel of college life came hit me. Scheduling classes proved to be a long process, for me anyway.
Since I’ll be living in the Brody Complex, which is a million miles away from the rest of MSU’s buildings, I had to really take the time to strategically pick classes that wouldn’t be impossible to get to. My schedule consists of 5 classes, some of which aren’t too close to my residence complex, but are manageable because I took the time to figure out how long of a trek would be needed to reach them all within a reasonable time frame.
Another big issue for me was picking classes that wouldn’t be too much work for my first year. My predetermined schedule that I had set forth consisted of 17 credits, which consisted of a second-year Spanish class that met everyday early in the morning. Though I love the Spanish language, I opted to wait until next year and take my Spanish class, which was a 6 credit course. I made the decision due to my transitioning to college, it’s imperative that you don’t overdo your first year because it can lead to a burn out really quickly.
The moral of this story: Make sure that you manage your time wisely and select classes that realistically meet what you are able to do and won’t cause you to be burned out by sophomore year.