AMANTE: Crushed by a cancellation
I came to Central Michigan University in Fall 2006 bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to be done in four years.
But then, life happened: I had a rough sophomore year, which resulted in me taking two years off from the Mount Pleasant campus. When I arrived back last fall, I was fully prepared to be done by the summer.
For everything to go according to plan, I would graduate in December by taking summer classes.
And then Friday, I found out two classes crucial to my on-time graduation were canceled because of lack of enrollment.
(Insert record needle screech here).
I wasn’t actually planning on being on campus this fall semester. I was fortunate enough to be offered a full-time internship and had hoped to devote most of my efforts to being the best intern a girl could be.
I’m not even sure if it’s humanly possible to take three classes while working full-time, which I will need to do to adhere to my newly-revised graduation plan.
In addition, there are fiscal pressures: this summer is my last chance to take classes under the soon-to-be-defunct CMU Promise. Pushing classes off to the fall will result in an additional $100 a credit hour — or $1,200 a semester.
Finally, the professor teaching one of the classes, who is a personal favorite, is on sabbatical next fall. This summer is my absolute last shot in taking a class with him.
So I’m left with two options: first, I could try a semester that seems like a suicide mission, or I could postpone graduation until the spring of 2012 — nearly a full year after I had expected to be out of this place. Neither feels particularly alluring.
My two-year detour was my own fault, but I had fully expected to be done with college at 23. My friends from high school all finished college in four years and have moved on to graduate school and “grown-up” jobs, yet I’m putzing around in Mount Pleasant for an extra two years? On top of everything else, it’s a blow to my self-esteem.
I understand and respect the financial responsibilities of the university, and it’s probably not practical to have a class with only 5 people.
But this is an educational institution. What is our first goal; to educate students, or maintain a profit? A small class allows for an incredible one-on-one learning experience, even more beneficial than in a standard class size. And that’s what we’re here for, right?
I know I’m not alone in this situation. So to whomever makes these decisions, I imagine department chairs and deans, I urge you to be especially generous when considering which classes are offered this summer.
I’ve had a wonderfully enriching undergraduate experience at CMU. I just need it to be over already.
