It's stress-tastic!

[effervescible]

So, I'm back at school and while stressing less over the whole schedule thingie, the stress remains. For those not in the know, my dilemma has gone like this: Angie schedules 12 hours last spring. During the summer, Angie realizes that she really should take more, easy semester be damned. Angie also develops an inexplicable yen to learn Japanese. Angie also needs to take a math class.

Ack, third-person is just not fun. Anyways, this is the deal. I went to the morning Japanese class and was let in, even though it was full, confirming Sensei's niftiness. I really enjoyed the first class and would like to continue. The problem? If I am let into the math class, I'll have to drop Japanese (and feel like a jerk for wasting the prof's time) or keep both and have a 21-hour semester. I've taken six classes before, but Japanese is a lot of work, math is a five-hour class, and then there's Design 104, which also promises to be difficult. The other ones are probably cake. Now...I could still take Japanese next year, even though I'll be a senior, because of the five-year thing. I could just ditch the math class, but I really shouldn't, because it's a requirement for VCT and I need to be careful and make sure I don't go past five years. Summer school along with a co-op is a possibility, but I'm not going to count on it this far ahead.

Gah. The smart answer is to drop Japanese if I get the math class. Selfish indulgences have their time and place, and this probably isn't one. I could also wait and see if the two classes I haven't been to yet will really be easy enough to let me do everything, but the 21-hour thing gives me this feeling of choking panic in the back of my throat. I may have taken pre-calc back in high school, but that was almost four years ago and I won't be able to just breeze through this, even if it is easier.

The choice basically comes down to accepting disappointment and (probably) getting to do something fun at a later date or trying to grab it all right now and potentially screw myself over. True, I can always drop a class, but with my stubborn academic nature, it's just as likely that I'd refuse to admit "failure" and keep going with a full load, potentially making myself miserable. I think I'm going to have to be a grown-up about this and apologize to Sensei for taking up her time.

Of course, the math course might be ful with no absencesl, thus solving my problem. I'll still feel like a screw-up for not sorting this out sooner, but I think I'll definitely learn from this in the future.

Comments

[ursamajor]

so what's the rest of your schedule look like?

design:
math: 5 hours
japanese: i'm assuming 5 hours; beginning language, ne?
other class?
yet another class?

could you drop either of the "other" classes? how much time do they take up?

[sempaisloan.livejournal.com]

In my humble opinion, I think you're on the right track by doing the Math now, and saving Japanese for later, so you'll be able to do VCT. I'm sure that Sensei would understand a student making the right decision for her academic well-being. I wouldn't feel ashamed, especially! Over-enthusiasm (if that actually exists in noun form) is a problem most of us WANT! Good luck, though.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

All I can say is that I took an 18-credit load once, and it really sucked. Even cakey classes can drag on you if you have too many of them, and you'd be amazed how often they decide they all need to give exams on the same day. Perhaps there's a summer Japanese course you can take, or perhaps you'd have a lighter schedule in the spring?

What math class? They were always my least favorite, and I include taking physical chemistry in that statement...

[herogear.livejournal.com]

well, if you take Japanese later, I could give you pointers and act all sensei-like, since I'm taking it this semester.

Oh yeah, and....russian rap?