Letter from the Editor
To the reader,
“Due to insufficient enrollment, your Biology lab has been dropped from your spring 2013 schedule. We apologize for this inconvenience.” This was the basic premise of an email I received just days before starting my second to last semester at HVCC.
What could have been a stress-free, relaxing, non-demanding break from my hectic, work, school, and insanely busy schedule, was soon turned into an anxiety-riddled nightmare.
If I have not made this clear enough, this was less than a week before school started, last Thursday to be precise. What was I to do?
Looking around, I am sure I could find a decent number of students who were put in this same position. With HVCC’s recent enrollment woes, I would not be surprised if this were the case. However, I write this to remind students in similar situations to take a breath. In this letter, I hope I can help you with some first day troubles.
Let’s start with the dropped class situation. In any case like this, I recommend speaking to your academic advisor. Since school was not in session, I sent an email to mine, detailing my problem and asking for his help.
Remember that it is the first day of school, and although you may miss one class period or one lab while the powers that be sort out this sticky situation, it is better than nothing. This brings me to my next point, which also deals with the add/drop week.
Let’s talk about hardship: that 8 a.m. calculus class, online public speaking, or the theater class you are sure you’re not supposed to be in…bottom line, you realize it was a mistake to have this on the schedule. Soliciting the help of academic advisement is helpful there, as well.
First week of classes is part of a grace period in which a student can erase a class from his or her schedule, as well as all academic records, with no penalty. Quite simply, it is treated as if the class was never signed up for.
What of the contrary? As it turns out, HVCC’s add/drop dates work both ways. So after dropping that strange class, you probably still need the three or four credits or, as in my case, the lab.
Because of add/drop, seats open up in classes. While I cannot personally guarantee that this will work, I have witnessed an on-time graduation being salvaged because of this. A friend of mine needed a Fine Arts elective. Because of the add/drop feature, she was able to take the class and then graduate right on schedule.
However, some students are luckier than those mentioned above. Who are they?
They are the students that were in the academic advisor’s office the day registration opened to guarantee their place in that lab, their place in that reasonably timed math class, and more. They are the students who leave procrastination off of the table and plan ahead. Of course this is a generalization, but I digress…lesson learned!
I wish you all a healthy, productive, and studious year. Be safe and good luck to you all.
Go Vikings!