Guest Writer Theo explores the uninhibited delusion of the shopping period.

This may be a tale familiar to those of you reading this, or you may be blessed with critical thinking skills. Every year around the shopping period, I end up registering for around 23 classes, with plans to shop more classes, genuinely believing this to be a reasonable goal. 

If you know me, you know I’m extraordinarily delusional, and this becomes especially apparent during the shopping period. Reliably, every semester, I enroll in too many classes, a number higher than my previous semester, somehow managing to convince myself that I can do it with no problem. I WILL be fine. Upon realizing she had unintentionally registered for 20 credits (and was waitlisted for another class), my friend jokingly said she “pulled a Theo.” Last year, I genuinely believed I could feasibly a) register for and b) take 27 credits without too much of an issue. 

My friends and family plead with me to drop a class, and I revel in my own mischievousness when I say I will keep taking all of my classes. Last year, my low point came when I slept through the second session of a seminar class—divine intervention was necessary for me to realize my folly and finally drop a class. I go through this every semester and I show no signs of stopping or learning from my past mistakes. I can and will end up taking 25 credits and will thrive in all of them. Be nice to me; my prefrontal cortex is not finished developing.

I have refused to undergo any sort of character development, and I won’t start now. Please wish me luck as I somehow end up going through this again and I figure out which of my 22 credits to drop. And if you also are going through this, best wishes and DROP A CLASS FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY!

(I am trying to tell myself this as well).

Image via Wikimedia Commons