I remember the excitement of figuring out my own schedule for the first time when I was in high school in Klamath Falls. There was central planning in junior high just like in the Soviet Union. They told you where to go and what to take and you just did it. It was great to get your schedule, but it was not the same as if you had picked it yourself. Then, when I went to college at Oregon State, it was truly a free market arrangement. I was on my own. I had to make sure I got all the classes I needed with all the needed prerequisites for future classes or I would not graduate on time. It was scary, but even more exciting. Kelly and Christian are in the process of that transition right now. They will move from a centrally planned (by me) schedule to a free market schedule they will have to navigate for themselves.
I loved walking over to Gill Coliseum to stand in line, hopefully with a cute coed, to get the coveted computer cards that guaranteed the slots in the classes I needed. It was very frenzied, but very exciting with ready made conversation. Did you get all your classes? What time do you get out on Friday? Do you have any 7:30 AM classes. What is your PE? Now it is all done on line. That is kind of sad in some ways because there is not as much of a people element to the process, but still very exciting. I will help them pick classes for awhile, but Kelly and Christian will have to talk to their advisers, go online to sign up, juggle their schedule when stuff does not work out, write the checks to pay the tuition, then figure out how to get their textbooks at a cheap price.
Both of the kids have planned their work and study schedule to a certain extent this year, Kelly a little more than Christian. They are going to have to do that, too, but it is a different problem than that of planning class schedules that have both short, medium, and long term ramifications. We will add to that burden by assignment of one CLEP test per semester, too. We will start the process this weekend. My plan, I hope I can stick to it, is to stay two arms lengths away from the keyboard. With my old eyes, I will not be able to see the screen so well, but will be available to answer questions. I will let you know how it goes.