Category: Academics

academics

College Classes: Creating Your Schedule

Back in June when I was creating my first semester class schedule at orientation, I didn’t really know what I was doing. My goal was to pick classes I thought I would enjoy and hope it all worked out in the end.

And, somehow it did.

However, I took a far different approach when it came to scheduling my second semester classes. Even though it’s my first year on Iowa’s campus, I’m a sophomore based on credit, so I plan on graduating in three years. While scheduling classes for next semester, I tried to include as many SRM (Sport and Recreation Management) and JMC (Journalism and Mass Communication) classes as I could in order to stay on track for both majors.

Here are a seven tips based on how I scheduled my classes:

1. Map out your (future) class schedules

You definitely don’t have to do this, but I’m the kind of person who loves to plan ahead.

A few weeks prior to picking second semester classes, I decided to make an excel document where I map out all of my future class schedules. The document includes a list of all the classes I need/want to take and the years that I should take them in order to graduate in three years, and a few other important details.

My plan will probably change, but it’s nice to have something to fall back on.

2. Maintain a balance

First semester, I had four classes (12 semester hours) because I was easing myself in to college. Second semester, I’m going to have six classes (18 semester hours, which is a full load).

If you can, I suggest taking a full load of classes as long as you maintain a balance. Try not to schedule all of your hard classes in one semester.

3. Make sure you have time for homework (or online classes)

I am taking one online class next semester for my SRM major. I made sure to make time in my schedule to work on homework for that class. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I don’t have class until late afternoon, which gives me plenty of time to focus on my online class. The last thing I want to do is fall behind.

4. Take your personality into account

During first semester, I confirmed that I am not a morning person unless I have something to really motivate me to get up. When I had to go to work and film football practice, I was able to wake up just fine. However, when I had a lecture before 10 a.m., I struggled to get out of bed because I knew no one would notice if I missed class.

I took that into account when scheduling my second semester classes.

5. Make time to eat

One of my biggest concerns was making sure I have time to eat lunch. I wanted to avoid having back-to-back-to-back classes during lunch hours.

6. Look at a campus map

I’d rather not have to run all the way across campus in 10 minutes to get to my next class.

7. Talk to your advisor

It’s possible that talking to your advisor is the most important part of scheduling college classes. Your advisor is there to advise you for a reason. They aren’t going to enroll in classes for you, but they will give you advice and lead you in the right direction. Use their knowledge to your advantage.

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Thank you for reading! Be sure to keep an eye out for my next post! And if you’d like to see more of my everyday life as an Iowa student, feel free to follow me on social media. Go Hawks!

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@kam_smithy

And so it begins…

If there’s one thing I’ve learned after one week of classes, it’s that procrastination is still my number one enemy. For example, I told myself I would submit my first blog post on Friday, the 25th.

And what day is it now? Monday, the 28th. And I’m rushing to finish writing it right before my second class starts.

While the first week of college was lacking in homework (yay for syllabus week), it was still incredibly hectic and productivity was a necessity. I had a million and one things I wanted, and needed, to do, but failed to even start. This was also a problem for me in high school, but the only difference is that I have a lot more going on now than I did back then.

On Monday, I had my first class (Contemporary Issues in Sports) at 9:30 am, and I didn’t have my second class (Inequality in American Sport) until 2:30 pm. This gap between classes provided me with the opportunity to at least do something productive, so I opted for doing my laundry in the residence hall for the first time. Getting my clothes in the washer was easy enough, but of course, with my luck, it all went downhill from there. When it came time to dry my clothes, I somehow managed to shove all of them into the bottom dryer, but ended up pressing the start button for the top dryer. I’m still not sure how I managed to make that mistake, but I ended up having to pay again. To top it off, when I came back to get my clothes after they finished drying, they were all still damp. For some crazy reason, I thought it was a good idea to put seven towels and a week’s worth of clothes in all at once.

Tuesday was when things started to get more hectic. While I didn’t have class until 12:30 pm, I had to be at football practice at seven in the morning. Being a videographer for the football team is fun, but I am in no way a morning person. After going to both of my Tuesday classes (Media History and Culture and Introduction to the Politics of Race) that afternoon, I hung out in my dorm room for a while. At five pm, we had our mandatory floor meeting where we introduced ourselves and talked about all of the things we had already gone over at orientation. At 9:15 pm, I had a KRUI sports department meeting where we discussed shows and show times. And at around 12 pm, I finally went to bed.

Wednesday was my busiest day in terms of classes. At 9:30 am, I had Contemporary Issues in Sports and right after that, at 10:30 am, I had the discussion for that class. And then, just like on Monday, I didn’t have my next (and last) class until 2:30 pm. I think I did a pretty good job at spacing out my classes and limiting the amount I have in one day in order to ease myself into college. On Wednesday night, I had an informational meeting for the Sport and Rec Management program. We found out about the different networking opportunities, met a lot of the staff, and had the chance to win a skip-the-line pass for the Chicago field trip (spoiler: I didn’t win). The trip would have consisted of a bus ride to Chicago to network and go to the Cubs vs. Braves game, but sadly I had prior commitments that prevented me from registering.

On Thursday, I only had two classes (Media History and Culture and Introduction to the Politics of Race). At 3:30 pm, I was supposed to have a meeting with my advisor at the Pomerantz Career Center, so I headed over there after my last class. When I got there, I found out that they had to cancel all of the meetings with my advisor because he hadn’t been there all week. They said they sent me an e-mail, but I never got it. Nevertheless, I headed back to my dorm room and relaxed for a while. At around five pm, I headed over to the Old Cap Mall for a Pizza Party with some of the other student bloggers. It was really cool to meet everyone and I can’t wait for the next one! That night, I had to go to bed early because I needed to be at the football facility for practice at six in the morning. Just as I was falling asleep, the fire alarm went off and everyone had to evacuate the building, which was just my luck.

On Friday morning, I walked to the football facility for practice. I got out of there around nine am, and then I had my discussion class for Inequality in American Sport at 10:30 am. After that, I had my discussion class for Media History and Culture at 1:30 pm. Once I was finished with classes, I went back to my dorm and started packing my bag.

Yes, I was already making a trip home. While I had yet to feel really homesick, I did miss my parents and siblings, and couldn’t wait to see them again.

My first week of college was full of a lot of changes, new experiences, and a few bumps in the road. I might have seen a cockroach in the girls’ bathroom once or twice (or maybe three times) and I might have gotten lost in Van Allen, but I wasn’t going to let any of that ruin my first week.

I would apologize for the super long, tell-instead-of-show post (believe me, they will not all be like this), but I think it “fits the bill” because it was definitely a super long week.

But I do have a feeling the weeks are only going to get longer.

 

See you next time, Hawks!