It’s that anticipatory time of year!
I have always been one of those students who loved planning. There’s something comforting about sorting numerous subcategories into an overall compartmentalized unit. Or maybe I’m slightly OCD and Type A. ;) Regardless, now is the time of year where people like me get to excitedly plan out their summers, next year accommodations, and future classes.
Every couple of days a different housing lottery is taking place. There are so many different housing options open to Vanderbilt students. Of course, as an upperclassman you can live off-campus, but there are also on-campus apartments, either for two, four, or six people. These are located in several different key locations on campus so that you can select the most appropriate for you. There are also the stereotypical college dorms where you live with one other roommate. This mirrors our freshman housing, except that you get to select who you will room with (as a freshman you can request a specific roommate, but I didn’t know anyone when I came here!). The final possibility is a single room on alumni lawn or in Towers East. That is where I’m applying for next year. :)
The process of selecting your future roommates is always drama-filled as people try to sort out who they are compatible with, whose friendship they would lose if they lived together, etc. I’ve heard enough from my friends studying elsewhere that this is not just an isolated case at Vandy. Like true adults, us college students sometimes struggle to get along with people. It’s that simple. That being said, once all of the drama gets worked through and you end up with a plan for the upcoming year, all that remains is excitement.
The same can be true for classes. Recently, Peabody revamped their sequencing for Elementary Education majors, which changed up my schedule quite a bit. It was terrifying and overwhelming at first, but once I laid out all of my required courses for the rest of my time here at Vanderbilt and saw that things still fit, I calmed down. Now, with the rest of the undergraduate students I am finalizing my schedule for next semester on YES (Your Enrollment Services) in my “shopping cart”. Once these choices are discussed with my academic adviser, I’ll be all set to enroll in early April.
All of the decision-making I have to do at college can sometimes be overwhelming, especially when things don’t go according to my original plan. Goodness knows that this time of the semester is the worst for that…but, once the dust settles everything works out and a new year begins. :)
…Until next time!