NOTES FROM THE DESK

Author: Zamir Ahmed

As a first-year student I thought that most of my tough decision-making days about college were over after I picked a school at which to matriculate. I was sure that there would never again be a choice filled with as much anxiety as that decision last April. One year later, I can look back and say to myself, "Wow! I was really naive." Because now with the end of the year fast-approaching we are again faced with not one but two of these angst-filled decisions - room draw and course registration.

Now, I know that these are two very important decisions that will have an impact for at least a semester. And I know that they have to be made by the end of the year. But what I question is why they have to be made in consecutive weeks. Why aren't students given at least a week in which to relax, contemplate and recover from these two stressful times? My new experience with room draw - studying floor plans for hours with my friends and plotting the way in which to steal, deal and cheat our way to our best living arrangement - has been comparable to a military planning for an invasion. I doubt that my experience is unique to the Middlebury community, so why are we forced to do the same thing the following week?

Immediately after this exhausting process of room draw we are asked to select courses for next year. If you are an upperclassman with first pick for classes, you will probably get the courses you want except for those reserved for other majors. But for underclassmen the competition is cutthroat for that spot in the class that everyone seems to want. Should we really be forced to make such tough decisions when we have not had sufficient time to plan for fulfilling distribution and major requirements?

It is tough enough for a student with a bad number to find a way to stay in their commons without also trying to fulfill enough major credits to graduate in four years. Why can't the college schedule be changed to give students a break in which to collect themselves after room draw so they are in the right mind in which to plan their collegiate future? Wouldn't we all benefit? I know I would.