On Shopping

Yale's shopping period has ended, alas, and I have learned some important lessons that I think other students could find useful.

First, what's the point?

Shopping period is a way to preview classes without committing to them, sitting in on the first couple classes to see what they're like in practice. But more importantly, it's a way to try out different schedules to see what times, what classes are best for you. Hence, the two week period. But it's quite distorting in that the first two weeks coincide with the start of everything else - extracurriculars, jobs, etc. It's hard to know what you'd really prefer for the rest of the semester. But that's just it. If you think about it like that, you will have a very bad shopping experience. I did. And that's why.

First, you can never know.

No religious undertones intended, but some things are out of our hands. The question is, when to know when something is out of your control. As Yalies, we are used to believing that many things people shrug off (unfair grading) can, in fact, be changed if we take things into our own hands (argue with the teacher). So it's no wonder that we try so hard to figure out our destinies.

After all, it is this active attitude that has gotten us where we are, this refusal to accept what we are dealt.

Second, nothing is wholly bad or worst or wholly good or best.

There are pros and cons to taking every class and you will go crazy if you try to figure them all out and calculate them at this point. Now we've always been told that preparation, looking ahead, will yield the best results. Sometimes looking ahead too much will just make you dizzy and ultimately really unsatisfied.