To the editor:

This summer, I found my new least favorite sentence: “This course has been dropped due to low enrollment.”

This marks the second time I have received this email in as many semesters.
Couple that with the fact that two other courses I was scheduled to take this semester were in danger of not running.

For the better part of the summer, I didn’t know if three out of the four courses I signed up for would even exist, presenting one of the most unnerving situations I have ever encountered.

To begin with, these classes are required for a major or minor, and some of these courses are not even offered every semester. It’s hard enough coordinating when you are going to take which courses without said course vanishing without so much as a “goodbye.”

I love having a plan for everything, but due to my upcoming course schedule (or lack thereof), no plan existed. I did not have a mental picture of what my days or week looked like, and as someone who takes comfort in schedules, that scared me. I could not order my class books in advance because I did not know which classes I would be taking, and I’m still feeling the repercussions of that; my current class books have still not arrived.

Simmons takes pride in being a small, close-knit community, so why is there so much trouble regarding running a small class?

Small classes are amazing! One of my courses this semester (which was also in danger of not running) has five students in it, myself included, and I love the cozy environment that that setting provides. The professor interacts with us one-on-one, and we can spend ample time on one student’s questions, time that we might not otherwise have had in a larger class.

My summer-long schedule scuffle saw me at the mercy of whichever higher powers dictate the fate of a class, and by extension, the world. This semester I’m hoping for the best, preparing for the worst, and praying that no other courses get canceled.

I’m just glad the higher powers didn’t drop this letter.

From,
Alison Berstein