Stress.

Hope.

Corrections.

Success.

While this set of words could apply to multiple situations, the specific event that I am referring to is the yearly opening of Class Choice. It’s the key to your schedule, your favorite teachers, and the classes you hope to take.

Each summer, students wait on the edge of their seats for an email to be sent. It’s the only reason they bother staying signed into their school emails and actively checking them during the summer bliss. Once the email is sent, they set their alarms for the blood battle to begin.

Class Choice is only one of the ways to change your schedule; some call it the easiest and some the hardest. It involves selecting classes for different hours, all with the thrill of messing up everything altogether.

Some become incredibly frustrated with this. The fear of getting the wrong teacher or the wrong class can be incredibly infuriating, especially considering the impact it has on one’s year.

This is an anxiety-inducing time; however, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it is not Class Choice. Class Choice is not the end all. The end all is an administration-given gift: your counselor.

They are there to help you, and although it comes with a few automated emails, they are automated by a real person sitting behind them. That person’s job is to help you, to get you to the place you want to be, and give you the best year that they possibly can. They know that Class Choice is automatic and a simple, flawed equation.

However, they need Class Choice. There are four counselors and over 1,000 students. They will be happy to help you, but they need to know what you want first, and Class Choice is the only way to do this.

While Class Choice is helpful in getting an idea of what you want and playing around with your options- which is a vital step- it is not a one-step process. It is not there to ruin your day– only to help it along.