The Daily Minutiae

"Adam Liebendorfer has God's own spring quarter schedule."

"Adam Liebendorfer has bested even God in His scheduling abilities."

Big claims, but ones I can defend.  Fall quarter, I didn't know what I was doing.  I had class everyday, including Friday.  That would be the last, I told myself.

This quarter, nothing on Friday.  A victory, a triumph in scheduling, only to be eclipsed by spring quarter's schedule:

Three of the four classes are directly knocking out classes required for majors.  The other is a required freshman course I would've gotten out of if I hadn't gone to a bo-dunk Appalachian high school.

The beauty in this schedule?  No classes Tuesday, starting my weekend at noon Thursday, and a healthy gap in classes Monday and Wednesday.  O, your Merciful, how did you manage this great feat?

Two pink slips, one friend inadvertently holding a spot, and registering the very first second I was allowed to.  Oh yeah, and a grain of luck.

Forethought, ye of little experience.  Forethought.

That is my first lesson in scheduling: have a game plan.

Hopefully this post will be the first in a long series of helpful scheduling tips, but unfortunately I have to get a harsh fact of life out of the way now.  Knowing what you want to be when you grow up really does put you ahead.  

College kids without a game plan is one of the saddest things in the world today, especially journalism.  

All ego aside, let me share what you can do with a game plan.  Instead of going through college in four years and entering the workforce armed with one degree, why not get two, or maybe a minor?

After four years, I plan on graduating with two majors, three certificates, a study abroad, and an internship.

Am I super ambitious?  I'd like to think so, but no, not really.  The only thing I lucked out on was placing so high into Spanish, my second major.  I might have to take one or two 20-hour quarters, but not many.  It's all in the schedule.

The only thing sadder than college kids skipping class is college kids taking classes they completely don't need.  Every single one of my general education classes I chose with a certificate in mind.  I need two quarters of sociology or anthropology; may as well take Sociology 101 and 210, knock out the sociology requirements for a Political Communications certificate.   Hmm ... what should I take for my two required history courses?  Oh, how about the two quarters of Latin American history for that Latin American studies certificate.

So let me end with an analogy.  On camp outs, we used to have a dining fly that we ate under.  It was made with heavy metal pipes and metal connectors, and I was in charge of fitting all these connectors back into the crate we brought them in.  I'd fill the crate and have one left over, move some around and have three left over, shift everything to one side and have the perfect fit.