Course registration is often considered a stressful college process. From pouring over course catalogues to building and frequently readjusting your saved schedules, registering for classes quickly becomes unpredictable and complicated, even after registration is completed. The classes required for your major fill up before the registration date, the times for needed courses overlap with each other or perhaps you are debating how to manage your course load with all the other pieces of college life, including job opportunities, campus organization responsibilities or athletic and artistic endeavors.

However, stress caused by course registration can be alleviated in numerous ways. First of all, early planning ensures a smoother enrollment process: review which classes are necessary for your major and check if they are available on Workday. From there, you can build the skeleton of a saved schedule and present the completed work with your advisor, relieving some of the added pressure of planning directly before registration. If you are able to find an extra course that you are interested in — whether it is related to your major or not — that can also help balance working hard and having fun in your academics. Perhaps you will even discover a new passion! In my experience, I decided to take an introductory linguistics course this spring semester, even though I had never studied the discipline before, out of genuine curiosity for the topic. The class aided me in discovering my love for language and human communication!

Alongside early planning, making multiple saved schedules accounts for possible unexpected changes in your academic plan. Begin by building the “ideal” schedule first, with all the courses you are required to take, along with those that potentially fulfill core requirements or engage your interests. After that is constructed, make at least two more saved schedules with ideas for alternative courses or other compelling disciplines. That way, if the courses in the “ideal” schedule fill up too fast, the substitute is always available and relieves the stress.

Above all of these strategies, one is most important: taking frequent breaks and time to yourself to relax. After constructing your saved schedules and planning meetings with your advisor, find some time to go outside and breathe the fresh air. Stroll down the paths around campus and remember the intricacy of God’s creation. Wherever we walk, God’s creative energy pulsates through the nature around us: it crackles with the wisdom of every generation, from the most brilliant authors to highly revered scientists.

Through our studies and planning for future classes, we are expanding the possibility of  fulfilling our kingdom work, ultimately adding onto God’s creation. We creatively discover how our disciplines contribute to our ultimate purpose of becoming agents of renewal.