A few days ago, I had to choose classes for my semester abroad at University College London. This process is already daunting at Scripps, but at least I knew how it all worked and understood what to expect out of the torturous experience. Unfortunately, signing up for classes at UCL was completely uncharted territory and I had no idea how the process worked.

I expected to be able to talk to someone about my options and that they would help me come up with a final decision, but instead I was given a list of classes in my department and let loose to sign up online. In addition, I would have to contact other departments separately if I wanted to take their classes and there was no guarantee that I would be let into the class. It was obvious that I was in no way, shape, or form ready to choose classes alone so I decided to furiously email every single one of my advisors back at Scripps and anyone at UCL that would reply to me.

Finally, after countless emails and Skype conversations with professors, I had a tentative idea about my schedule and what classes that I should take. The only remaining issue was to decide whether my last class should be a Politics class that would count towards my major or a fun class that would not count for any requirements. My mentality going into choosing classes was to make sure that all my classes counted towards my majors so that I could complete my dual major in Politics and Economics. However, after talking to my major advisor I realized that the whole point of studying abroad is to have experiences that you cannot have at your home university. I was really worried about being able to complete my dual major and simultaneously taking classes for fun, but I decided that I should look more for the experience than for fulfilling requirements. Before I could change my mind, I decided to sign up for a class called Medieval History in London Collections, which takes you to different old sites and museums around London every week.

This was definitely a nerve-wracking decision for me because I am used to planning every class and every move far in advance and only thinking about taking classes that fulfill requirements. This is the first time that I am taking a class purely for fun and I cannot wait to see how it turns out. It is definitely important to fulfill major requirements during college, but there is so much more to explore and learn and this is the best time to take advantage of the opportunities that we are given as students.