Tim GouwIt’s that time of year when Rate My Professor should seriously consider monetization (this is a joke, please don’t). Students will face the struggle of deciding between the 8:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. lab. You’ll make three different schedules, sacrifice some of the classes you wanted, and have three crises in preparation. The day of, you wake up at 6:30 a.m. just to watch BearTracks crash.
Once you eventually come to peace with the stressful academic year that’s almost over, the enrollment deadlines come up. Assignments, midterms, upcoming finals — they all hang heavy over your head. But the real guillotine comes down when you’re hit with the brutal reminder that you have to plan your courses for next year. You thought you were close to being done? Think again. There’s more to come and you need to plan all of it.
This year, the University of Alberta has given us new nightmare fuel disguised as software to improve student registration. With an organized layout and bright colours to highlight our different classes, we can now be anxious and aesthetic at the same time. But make no mistake — it’ll still crash right when we hit enrol. But, at least we can all collectively bond over the experience while suffering from the stress and weight of our futures. How sweet and considerate of the university. I’m sure the aesthetically pleasing software will make us feel better as we watch the last 10 seats of that class we need fill up.
It becomes a bloodbath fighting fighting a hundred students for a seat in that class. Enrollment day brings out the worst in us the moment we get access to BearTracks. We can blame the loading symbol that will taunt us as it runs about in circles. It’ll dare us to refresh the page to see if it helps — it won’t. But don’t worry, this is totally normal and happens with every page! Just try to remember how expensive your laptop is as the frustration builds and you want to chuck it across the room.
If you’re lucky enough to get through to your cart, don’t get too hopeful. Once you click enrol, your future is in the hands of the system. There’s no promise that pesky little loading sign won’t haunt your nightmares or that the site won’t crash (it probably will). Cross your fingers and send up your prayers.
Whether or not you’ve successfully enrolled in all your fall term classes, you’re not as close to a break as you might think. You’ll be mercilessly dragged into the winter term arena by the ankles right after you register for the fall term. Hopefully you’ll come out with at least some of your sanity intact and a hopefully salvageable schedule. See you next year to do it all over again!
