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Opinions

School wars: Episode III
Revenge of the fifth

Bloated timetables are a student’s worst enemy

By Jacey Gibb, Opinions Editor

A column that combines life’s most
important things: your education,
Star Wars, and bad wordplay

lot of my hatred
towards the academic
dvisors at Douglas

probably stems from when |
was registering for my first
semester here. Sure, month-long
wait lists for appointments and
pointless pamphlet peddling
likely reinforced my bitterness,
but ground zero of this one-
sided rivalry came from when
freshman me was given the
awful advice to take five courses
in a semester.

Douglas College classifies a
full course load as at least four
classes, while the maximum
credits allowed in a semester
is 17.5. Who the hell came to

in the countless hours wasted
away in the far reaches of the
library’s second floor, with only
your study notes and a large
double double to keep you
company. So even if you only
have classes four days a week,
you'll be spending seven days
a week either doing homework
or feeling guilty about how
you should be doing it. Is it
summertime yet?

Your professors don’t all
congregate at the water cooler
and discuss what deadlines
would most accommodate your
schedule, so don’t be surprised
when you have four exams in
the same week. While there’s
nothing you can do but cram
and take your frustrations out
on your liver when the weekend
finally comes, limiting the
number of courses that you have
to worry about is a great way to

“Your professors don't all congregate at the water cooler
and discuss what deadlines would most accommodate your
schedule, so don’t be surprised when you have four exams
in the same week.”

this school, so eager to excel,
that they had to place a cap on
credits per semester? Regardless,
Douglas’ website tells me that
a 60 credit Associate of Arts
should only take four semesters
to complete. This is the same
rubric the academic advisor
gave me and I’m here to tell you
that they’re wrong.

No one else I knew
during my first semester was
taking five courses, content
ona timetable of only two or
three. And for good reason. In
addition to me being a complete
rookie when it came to handling
the post-secondary experience,
having to learn all the basics
such as how to write a research
paper and how to take notes
during a three-hour lecture,
the responsibility of having
to balance five courses wasn’t
something I was prepared for.

The supposed rule of college
courses is that one hour in class
equals two hours of homework.
Of course, this doesn’t factor

avoid an obligation overload.

Taking five courses also
means that you’re spreading
your efforts in five different
directions. Sure, multitasking is
a skill that’s held in high regard
these days, but focusing on
fewer courses will mean more
time spent focusing on certain
areas, resulting in a higher GPA
as well. I’ve managed to never
get anything below aB in any
of my classes except for my
first semester—the semester |
bogged myself down with five
courses.

Some people are superstar
students and will balance a
full schedule like they’re circus
performers, but my advice to
you is to take it slow. Set the
cap at four classes and take a
course or two in the summer if
you really have your heart set
on fleeing Douglas after two
years. Otherwise, try and enjoy
your time as a student instead of
cramming your schedule with
courses till it’s about to burst.

2.