As a freshman, when I came to orientation, I was surprised to find my schedule was already made for me. Thankful, but surprised. I was glad I didn’t have to worry about it and it was a pretty good schedule, but I didn’t expect that.

I remember realizing I had to do it myself as my first semester came to a close. It was exciting. A group of us gathered together on the night of freshman registration. None of us knew we needed CRN numbers, and we panicked when we couldn’t register for any of our classes. We gathered in the hallway of Freshman North with our RA and figured it out together. I tweeted that night something about registering being fun, because it was like a game.

Now, I’m a senior. I’m also an honors student, so I have the privilege of early registration, which means I really don’t have to worry about getting into my classes anymore. But that doesn’t mean the anxiety has gone away.

Maybe I’m just overthinking it, or maybe I’m being a little nostalgic. Or maybe I’m just dramatic, but either way, deciding what classes to take my final semester of college was one of the hardest schedules to make.

The realization this was my last chance to take really cool, intellectually stimulating classes was sad, and it put the pressure on. And with that came regret.

I regret not realizing you have to take ENG 350 before you can take upper level literature classes. Therefore I will never take young adult literature, and that is sad.

I regret not realizing how many cool political science classes there are above 101.

I regret never taking a religious studies class.

You can’t fit everything into a senior schedule, even with only two required classes to take. In the end, I was pleased with the classes I chose and I am looking forward to my final semester.

But let this be my Public Service Announcement for underclassmen: Don’t wait until the last minute to take your dream class. Yes, many of us are just trying to graduate on time and unnecessary classes hinder that. However, college is a time to learn, and we should each try to learn as much as possible. And let’s face it, this is a liberal arts school. You can find a way to make that religious studies course count for something on your schedule.

So, get creative. Look through every class listing. Explore your interests. Don’t come into your final semester with registration regret. You’ll thank yourself later.

Taylor Stuck can be contacted at [email protected].