Class advice proves helpful
COMMENTARY
Melissa Christensen

Registration is underway … did you consult your academic advisor?

Some of you, like journalism majors and new students, are going to answer yes because you were required to meet with an advisor. Some of you may answer yes because you wanted to make sure your academic ducks are in a row.

Still some of you, like many of the people I’ve heard complain during the last two weeks, are going to answer no because you think advising is unnecessary confusion and a waste of time. After all, it’s easy enough to look up the class requirements and check them off, right?

Sometimes a degree plan does have the feel of a checklist: 42 hours upper division? Check. Two writing emphasis courses? Check. Two lab sciences? Check. For much of my time here, I pretty much wrote off academic advising as a mundane detail of higher education.

That is until last week when I added a major and discovered a hidden benefit of academic advising. Deciding what classes to take forces you to examine your overall objective.

Sure, becoming a member of a new department required that I make sure I meet all the requirements of two majors, and when I first went in to talk to my new adviser, the only item on my agenda was forming a new checklist.

Then, my advisor asked me to describe specifically where I see my career path heading. I talked a little, he asked a couple questions, and I clarified my original thoughts. After a little more discussion, I discovered — with his help, of course — that the remainder of my degree plan was writing itself. My next three semesters aren’t going to be just about adding up hours and degree requirements; they’re going to be about leading myself into the direction I want to go.

For those of you who skipped advising this year, I urge you to strongly reconsider your choices. Did you pick classes so you could sleep in on Fridays or so your group of friends can all study together? Or did you carefully consider which classes are going to help you learn what’s necessary in order to get you in the right position for your dream job or graduate school?

Academic advisers are the experts in their departments. Not only do they know the university’s requirements, they know the objectives and the benefits of the courses they and their colleagues teach.

Don’t let such a valuable resource slip away because it’s an inconvenience. Talk with a professor in your field of study and let them help you find the right path.

Melissa Christensen is a junior news-editorial journalism major from Grand Island, Neb.