From 7 a.m. Monday, counselors were swamped as dozens of students vied to be among the first to drop classes. Counselor Jane Piester said dissatisfaction with schedules was practically a yearly tradition, but that students are still forced to go to the first two days of school unedited.
“Sometimes people anticipate they want to make a schedule change. Then, once they actually get in their class, maybe the anxiety they had about that class has been resolved; they like the teacher, and they decide they want to stay,” Piester said. “We anticipate that there will be lots of students that want to try to change their schedule. We set up it so that everyone goes to their first two days of class so they can go through their schedule.”
Junior Spencer Brocksmith was one of many who arrived with little hope of seeing their counselors at around 7:30 a.m., when the offices were already packed. Brocksmith said that although he didn’t think that his chances of getting a schedule change were good, he was willing to wait.
“I woke up at 6:45, but I didn’t get out of bed till 7:05. I probably could’ve gotten here about 15 minutes earlier; that probably would’ve helped,” Brocksmith said. “I’m just gonna wait it out. I’ll get in there eventually.”
With more than 60 students waiting to meet their counselors, senior Corie Wilhite, who arrived around 7:10 a.m. and waited upwards of 45 minutes, was frustrated. She said counselors should have anticipated the rush and opened their doors to schedule changes earlier in the morning. However, she commended the department’s policy of only allowing changes after the first two days of school.
“They should’ve come in earlier because obviously, this is madness and it’s getting even worse the longer we’re sitting here….I don’t think that even I got here early enough, and I got here at 7:10,” Wilhite said. “I actually think the way they do it is good, because I think you should have to go to the class at least once and see if you actually like the class before you decide to drop it, that makes sense to me.”
Piester said although she came in early, around 6:15, and would keep coming early for the rest of the week. However, Piester said she was not available to do schedule changes before 7:20 so she could keep up with the regular volume of counselor work.
“I get here early just because I have other things I need to do,” Piester said. “I know I’m gonna be swamped today, only during schedule changes.”
Adam Schoelz
Did you have trouble with getting your schedule just right this year? Tell us about it in the comments or tweet @rbhsbearingnews #ISpendMoreTimeInGuidanceThanIDoInClass