Small Changes, Big Results

Over the past few years I have been formulating this image of the person I want to become, specifically academically. That's why it was a surprise to not only my parents but anyone who knows me personally that I chose some courses unrelated to this mental picture I had envisioned. My ideal course load includes a lot of mathematics and economics, but I decided to expand on this and test other social science courses.  I guess at the time I wanted to test out the waters like a lot first-year students before 100% committing to anything. I wanted to take advantage of the courses U of T had to offer. I remember the day I had to decide on all my courses. I was so used to being told exactly what to do that the liberty to take the courses that sounded the most interesting to me was sort of a challenge. I second guessed myself, wondering if the courses I was enrolling in were best suited to my image. Sometimes we are presented with so many options, that we simply don't know what to choose. I used the idea of completing all my breadth requirements in my first year as an excuse to test unrelated courses. As the semester progressed I noticed two things. First, the courses I chose to fulfill breadth requirements gave me the chance to combine other areas of study with my future goal. I found most of my courses interesting except one, and luckily enough this course selection mistake I was able to change. Second, I started to realize I was becoming less and less interested in one of my elective courses (full-year course). U of T allows you to drop any course (full credit or half) until a deadline which varies on your faculty. I decided to use the University's resources, specifically the college registrar. Currently, I am a student under the Faculty of Arts & Science and a member of Woodsworth College. For this one course I did not particularly enjoy, I spoke to my college registrar and she helped me to make the right decision. I was able to drop my course with no consequences since I did it before my Faculty's deadline. My college registrar helped me look for alternative courses and taught me about the useful online tool Degree Explorer. Together we worked to find a new course that was more suitable for my own interests, and I ended up enrolling in an extra mathematics course and also enrolling into a first-year seminar course while also dropping a full year social science course. This change in my academic schedule has me in a smaller class of only 25 students while on the course I decided to drop we were over 800. Don't get me wrong, I like the large classroom atmosphere and most of my classes are this way, but I thought that this year would be a great time to get myself into a smaller classroom setting while taking advantage of the varying topics covered in seminar courses. This small classroom setting is much more personal than my other larger classes, in this setting I find it easier to talk to everyone around me and get to know the professor at at different level. The University has a lot of resources to help you with your courses. I love my first-year courses from the beginning, but I am glad there is a drop option available. This year I am able to explore so many different aspects of the education I envisioned in my future and will work to bind together forming this new version of the person I envision myself to become. Since next year, I will have completed all my breath requirements I will not be taking any electives but instead, I have chosen to take all courses related to my future major.