College Advisor: Hi, GED Earner. I’m College Advisor.
GED Earner: Hello, I’m GED Earner. I mean...obviously you know that. Sorry.
College Advisor: It’s okay. So, what brings you into the office today?
GED Earner: I was hoping for some help with choosing my major.
College Advisor: It’s the second week of school.
GED Earner: I know. I was just so busy with my courses. They all gave out a
lot more homework than I thought they would after the first class.
College Advisor: No, I mean that it’s a bit early to be making this
decision. Of course you can declare a major now, but I recommend you wait
until the middle of your first semester of sophomore year to really start
thinking about it. The first few semesters are about fulfilling your general
education requirements, and figuring out how to answer that question.
GED Earner: I already have my general education degree.
College Advisor: No, for college. You have a high school equivalent.
Everyone at this school, however, has to take several of the same classes,
regardless of what their degree ends up being. Everybody’s gotta take math,
and English, and some science, for instance.
GED Earner: Oh. Yeah, I’m taking all those.
College Advisor: How many hours are you taking this semester?
GED Earner: Uhh...twenty.
College Advisor: That’s quite a bit, for your first year, especially. That’s
what, six classes? I imagine one of them is a science credit with a lab.
GED Earner: That’s right. The system wouldn’t let me sign up for more than
that.
College Advisor: I actually recommend you drop two or three of those. At
least one. You gotta get rid of one. That’s just too much work.
GED Earner: You don’t think I can handle it, because I didn’t graduate from
high school?
College Advisor: You did graduate. You just missed some of the lectures and
passing periods. Never let anyone tell you that your diploma isn’t real
because you got it from a special program. This school doesn’t let anyone in
who can’t handle it. Anyone who drops out does so because they don’t believe
in themselves, or they have other obstacles, like financial constraints, or
family emergencies. That means you belong here, and we want you here. You
can handle this work, but twenty hours is a lot. You want your first
semester to be—not easy—but more of a taste of what’s to come. If you try to
take on too much at once, you’ll burn out. You might still remain a student,
but you’ll be more inclined to take far too few classes later, and you won’t
want to work hard. Trust me, I’ve seen it a million times. Please drop one
course. You can always take it later.
GED Earner: Okay, I can do that. I don’t much care for my Logic professor,
so I guess I would rather roll the dice, and hope I get someone better next
time.
College Advisor: Okay, cool. So. As far as your major goes, I still think
you should wait, but for next semester, we can discuss what kinds of things
you like to do, and what you’re good at. That way you can start to tailor
your class load a little. Some general requirements do allow for
substitutes, in case you prefer something slightly different.
GED Earner: Well, I don’t really like any of the subjects. That’s why I
didn’t finish school the first time around.
College Advisor: There was never a class where you thought, I don’t hate
this quite as much as the others?
GED Earner: Wull. I guess I didn’t hate gym class. But you can’t take gym in
college.
College Advisor: The hell you can’t! We have a great physical education
department here!
GED Earner: You do?
College Advisor: Of course. Team sports, exercise, track and field. Even
dance. Were you thinking you wanted to teach?
GED Earner: I hadn’t really given it much thought.
College Advisor: Then let’s think about it now. Let me pull up some
information about what you can do with a degree in physical education.
GED Earner: Oh, wow. Thanks.
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