Registration Woes
Registration for the spring semester began about two weeks ago, prompting the semesterly panic among Vandy students as YES (the registration system) fails to provide that which we need. For others, who are in no way related to me at all, the panic results from finding out that several classes on the planned schedule for the spring are only offered in the fall semester. Just kidding, that TOTALLY IS ME.
After finding out about the rather problematic (and enigmatic, if I may say so) practice of only offering vital engineering courses every other semester, I swiftly underwent the five stages of grief:
Denial: “Nope. They’re offered. I know they are.” Repeatedly typing in the course code and hitting enter with increasing urgency yielded nothing, though, so I turned to:
Anger: “WHY WHY WHY???” I was understandably frustrated that, being ahead on the engineering track because of AP credits, I was doomed to apparently sit on my hands for a semester until I could fit in where Vandy wanted me.
Bargaining: “I will write positive articles about Vanderbilt for the rest of my natural life if they’ll let me take Fluid Mechanics!” In retrospect, who bargains to “let me take Fluid Mechanics?” What a horrid sentence.
Depression: “I’m sad.” I don’t think this stage ever really happened.
Acceptance: With some help from my adviser, I was able to enroll in a course that technically required a prerequisite I couldn’t take next semester. Nilanjan Sarkar (he’s a champ) is the best ever ever ever.
Between help from my adviser securing a spot in Mechatronics and some inventive schedule-shuffling, I managed to make next semester work. I still have a few questions about whether I’ll end up taking “History of the Roman Empire” to satisfy my final liberal arts credit, or if I’ll save it for another semester, but the wild beast of engineering is back under my control. Thanks for your support, everyone, and remember – Don’t panic.
