One of the most beautiful and terrifying aspects of college life is the perpetual change. These four years are some of the least constant of our lives. We build our days around dorms and classes and teachers and friends that will inevitably shift in a few months. Academically, we immerse ourselves in four often startlingly specific topics for ten weeks, and then choose four more. It’s liberating and expansive and good, but it lacks preparation.
Constant change requires constant choice, but in the rapidity of Middlebury life our choices can be easily misinformed. For me, first-semester registration was based on a whirl of rumors, casual gossip and guesswork. Second semester wasn’t much better.
As students, we know the courses we’ve taken intimately. We know the professors, the requirements, the frustrations. We know that real analysis and cell biology should not be taken at the same time, that some amazing lecturers have limited office hours, that every political science major should take a class with Murray Dry. As an academic community, we owe it to ourselves to collect and share this information. Informing students’ academic choices can only bring a more engaged, prepared and enthusiastic student body. SGA’s newest project, a website called Middcourses, was developed to better inform students on their academic options. The website shares student reviews of the classes and teachers we’ve had here at Middlebury. We encourage you to make an account, log on, share your thoughts and benefit from the advice of others.
On behalf of the SGA Publicity Committee
