One thing that I have always wanted since my freshman year at Drexel is the addition of more dining locations to the meal plan system.

Dragon Dollars, Dining Dollars and meal swipes can be used at certain locations around campus to get food, and, as a freshman, I tried to make the most of this, as did many other students. My main issue, however, was that there were so many places I would go that wouldn’t accept any of the three forms of payment mentioned above.

There is a full list of the places that accept Dragon Dollars available on Drexel’s website, and, while there are many popular locations as options, there are many locations that are not included. Though most of the places that are listed are on campus, there are unfortunately a few places that are less accessible, as they are a bit further out, such as HipCityVeg and The Fresh Grocer.

I’m unsure of what it takes for Dragon Dollars to become an accepted form of payment at a location, but it would be great if places like Honeygrow and the Ramen Bar were added to the list, as they’re quite popular among students.

For students who depend on Drexel’s meal plans as their primary way of paying for meals, it’s important that they have as much variety as possible. From the list on Drexel’s website, you can see that there is a good bit of variety, but meal swipes are accepted only at the Handschumacher Dining Center, Urban Eatery and The Cafe at the Perelman Center For Jewish Life. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but you do have to keep in mind that the Hans and Urban Eatery both offer an extremely wide variety of foods. I think it would be good to add another option, though, as those two have been the go-to places for using meal swipes. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a place that has the same level of variety as the Hans and Urban Eatery, but with a rising number of students each year, it would be good to add another mainstream dining option to the meal plan.

Drexel would have to figure out what locations are the most popular among students, but I think that figuring this out wouldn’t be too great of a task. Adding more locations where students can make use of Drexel’s meal plan system would only have positive effects on the students who use it, and the businesses would benefit from an increase in customers as well.

I knew people freshman year who never even used their meal swipes because they didn’t like the Hans or Urban Eatery. This was especially unfortunate because, as freshmen, they were required to have one of Drexel’s meal plans, but they weren’t able to use it to the fullest due to their lack of options. I do think that the Hans and Urban Eatery are satisfactory for most people, which is why only one addition for meal plans is probably necessary, so long as it’s a great one.

The feeling of finally being back from co-op is an unexpected one, and I think that people who are on co-op should look forward to returning to classes. The morning commutes to work are something that I already miss more than I imagined I ever would, and not bidding everyone a “good morning!” when I walk in the office is also something I had grown so accustomed to that it now feels odd to not do it.

To my surprise, I am quite excited to be back in classes. The time that I spent inside of Drexel’s halls was very limited these past six months, as I very rarely had a reason to enter them. Now that I am back, I’m getting a chance to see how some places on campus have changed and how others have stayed virtually the same. It of course doesn’t have that same feeling as the first time I started classes on day one of freshman year, but the feeling I get now is close to that. It all feels new again.

When I first started my co-op, I was so grateful to be done with classes that I couldn’t express my joy at getting what was essentially a six-month break. I told all of my friends and family that I would dread the very thought of having to return to class, and many of my friends had the same general feeling. However, now that six months have passed and I am at the point which I was dreading six months ago, my feelings have completely changed.

Having to go a year without any classes made me realize all of the little things in class that I love, and now, having been away for a while, I truly miss them. Sure, exams, papers and homework can really be a pain in the neck much of the time, but those aren’t the only things that give a class character. They’re major factors in any class, but there are so many other things that determine the experience. I feel that this is why people, including me, were originally not fond of the idea of returning to class.

The many other aspects of taking classes didn’t dawn on me during my time on co-op, as these aspects were overshadowed by the more stressful ones that I found less pleasing. But things like seeing and being taught by past professors I really like, taking subjects that interest me and studying English literature are all things that I had forgotten the joy of.

Perhaps if you’ve had some rotten luck, and all your classes and professors at Drexel have been mediocre or poor by your standards, then I could see how you would detest coming back to class after being away on co-op. But even then, there are some things you can still look forward to and enjoy. I mean, who doesn’t like being able to sleep in until the afternoon because you don’t have class until the evening? There are probably people who prefer waking up in the morning each day to go to work, and that’s perfectly understandable, but my point is that there are other things classes allow us to do that co-op does not.

We all have things that we like and dislike about classes, so we should try to focus on the things we like in order to make the transition from co-op back to classes a little smoother. As you finish your co-ops, try reminding yourself of the things you miss most about classes.

Imagine the scene: it’s midnight, you’re on the bottom floor of W.W. Hagerty Library while scrolling through Blackboard Learn, and you see that there’s an assignment due the next morning that you somehow completely forgot about. You grimly look at the instructions for the assignment and immediately ascertain that it will be extremely time consuming, so two options cross your mind — either say goodbye to those eight hours of sleep and do the assignment, or close the laptop, go home and try to forget that the assignment even exists. After a few brief seconds, you pick the first option, knowing that it will be worth the lack of sleep in the long run.

All-nighters are something that I encourage my peers to pull only when absolutely necessary or unavoidable. I highly doubt that anyone likes the idea of not going to sleep and instead staying up to work on something for a class, but just in case you’re considering it at some point, allow me to give you some first-hand advice.

It’s not a good idea. That’s the first thing I want to be very clear about. The all-nighter is one of the most powerful things we have in our tool kit as students, but using it is dangerous, as the after effects can leave you slumped over in class the next day. That being said, it’s impossible for me to tell you exactly when you should or should not pull an all-nighter, but I can tell you that you need to be certain that whatever you’re doing it for is critical to your success in a class, and you have to accept that the next day is going to suck.

If you’ve already had a night where you didn’t go to sleep and instead stayed up studying, then you already know what I’m saying here. It’s not a decision you make lightly, nor is it one that should be done on a regular basis for, what I hope are, very apparent reasons. You’ll also probably know that lots of snacks are required to make it through one of these experiences; otherwise, the success rate is severely diminished.

Something else to consider is how you’re going to stay awake the next day if you have classes. You can’t just treat it like any normal day and go about your business as usual. Believe me, I have tried, and it doesn’t work. If you’re like me and usually miss breakfast, I’d strongly advise getting some that morning. If you can add caffeine into the mix, even better. Sit in the back of your classes if you don’t normally. Yes, it may seem odd, but it’s just a safety precaution in case you fall asleep at your desk. And finally, try to be as active as you possibly can. If you normally go back to your room and watch something on Netflix while you wait for your next class, don’t do this. Instead, keep moving from location to location frequently, or go some place that is noisy, like a busy cafe. And if you have a friend who’s not busy, get them to hang out with you until your next class.

Nothing I say can fully prepare you for an all nighter. It’s something that you just have to experience for yourself to in order to comprehend, but hopefully you’ll never have to experience it, because in my experience, it’s not fun. But if the circumstances are absolutely pressing, I cannot stress enough how important it is to be prepared.

Why is it that every time Drexel does something irritating, we’re still surprised by it? From constant construction to the years-old housing crisis, Drexel University has become this unending cavalcade of bad news.

And yet, nothing is ever done about it.

Maybe it’s because everyone’s used to high school, where it was always awful anyway, and so we disregard the fact that public high school was free and Drexel costs about $40,000 a year. Maybe it’s because too many people are content with the situation so they don’t see the need to cause a fuss. Maybe Drexel cuts the corners they can because they know nobody will say anything.

In any case, I have yet to meet a student with a positive opinion on Drexel’s administration and academics. Did you know that for ENGR 113, First-Year Engineering Design — a mandatory class in every engineering major’s plan of study — students are advised to “chip in” fifty dollars of their own money to make their projects? Some quick math for you: if Drexel’s average cost of attendance is approximately $50,000 if you’re full-time, and each student in the class needs $50 worth of materials, the budget for this class would only need to be about a tenth of a percent of each engineer’s tuition. Drexel took in its largest freshman class in history this year. Where did all of that money go, if not our classes?

On the grand scale of things, $50 might not be all that much. Honestly, compared to the prices of textbooks and other class materials, it’s pretty cheap, but the sting comes because textbooks are ever-changing, overly-specific course materials with no good workaround. This fee is literally just the budget deficit. There are so many students here who take out loans right from the start; asking them to pay for their classes separately from the tuition is just adding insult to injury.

Of course, that’s not all. There are other infractions that show just how little Drexel really cares about its quality. Last week, a freshman friend of mine was complaining about one of their papers scoring a low C. The problem here wasn’t that they didn’t know what they were doing, but that the professor was completely out of line, making nonsensical corrections and marking blatantly obvious elements as missing from the paper. This student had to resubmit the paper after making corrections, and as such brought it to the writing resource center for help — as well as running it past everyone they knew, including an old teacher with a masters in english — but nobody could find a way to improve the paper, even with the instructor’s annotated “mistakes”. They then went to the professor directly, but were dismissed with a brief description of what was already marked off. Taking the next logical step, this student attempted to go over the instructor’s head — and was informed that he doesn’t even go to his department meetings.

I’m sure you can imagine how infinitely frustrating this was for everyone involved. Is this level of irresponsibility really what Drexel condones? Does tenure apply so potently that openly bad teachers are untouchable? This, along with the usual uneven spreading of student tuition dollars, are all things that should be questioned by the student body. Underclassmen, especially freshmen, are all so used to being stepped on that nobody ever tries to do anything.

This university is far from perfect; we all know that. Speaking up about university’s missteps is the only way to make that perfect college experience just a little bit more believable.

This letter is in response to the opinion piece in last week’s issue titled “Building Bentley will cost us big bucks.” I would like to state that I have been enrolled in the Honors program for the past three years but I am certain that I would be making the same arguments regardless of my relationship with the program.

The author is in clear opposition to the investment that the University is making towards the Bentley Hall initiative. Through this letter I hope to respond to some of their objections and make a case for this facility upgrade.

In its current setup, the Honors program (the college and the program are two distinct but related entities, and the project aims to help both) and facilities associated with it are placed in different locations — Millennium Hall, MacAlister Hall and the library, among other spaces. Providing the program a cohesive, unified space will certainly improve the quality of the program and help foster a sense of community. One may argue that this community is exclusive rather than inclusive because it will be built for Honors students only, but this is no different than a fraternity or sorority, operating on an opt-in basis.

The author points to the existing accommodation arrangements in Millennium Hall for Honors students. By placing Honors students in Bentley, spaces in Millennium are freed up. This is a zero-sum proposition in terms of bed occupancy. In fact, it only adds value in terms of engagement. By placing the students in close proximity with the college, both the students and the college benefit.

“We are all sorry we aren’t in the honors program and that Drexel thinks we aren’t academically talented, but we all don’t get the honors program perks,” the writer added sourly.

Drexel does in fact think all its students are ‘academically talented,’ which is why we were accepted to the university. One may contend that the Honors program thinks that “we aren’t academically talented” but through the multiple opportunities they provide to enroll into the program even after you have started at Drexel, they certainly let you prove otherwise and make use of the “transformative experience.”

It is misleading, if not outright false, to say that Drexel does not consult its students. The university organizes town halls, albeit at an unsatisfactorily low frequency, when undertaking a new initiative. The Undergraduate Student Government Association serves as a liaison with the University officials and holds its own town halls. Contact information for University officials that are involved in the decision making processes is easily available on the University’s website. The problem is not that we are not consulted. The problem is that we, the students, often do not engage. USGA positions go uncontested. We do not attend said town halls. In some cases, our opposition remains restricted to Thursday-deadlined opinion pieces (I have been involved with the paper for more than a year).

“Drexel doesn’t bat an eye at challenging but intimate liberal arts courses. But the new project will change that,” the author continued.

Traditionally an engineering school, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Drexel doesn’t “bat an eye at” liberal arts courses. Although I contend that it does, hence the Honors program. And, if it does in fact not care, this donation is a positive step towards making them care about liberal arts programs and should be welcomed.

Lastly, I would like to discuss the urgency of this facility upgrade. The writer contends that the money is being spent on something that is not “urgently needed.” I may be parsing this incorrectly, but my impression is that the author argues that this upgrade would benefit a selected group and such money should be spent on more general purpose initiatives. The author refutes their own argument by proposing initiatives that would only benefit subgroups. The parking initiatives for the commuter population only helps commuters and an extra dorm would only help freshmen. Certainly, these should not be pursued either, right?

Any facility upgrade, especially if already supported by a donor, should be welcomed. These upgrades cumulatively improve the Drexel experience one facet at a time. In my opinion these “big bucks” are being well-spent.

I am a 2000s baby. What does that infer? Oh yeah. Likes. We love nothing more than a ratio of likes on Instagram to our followers. We check. Constantly. Due to the rapid growth of our century, we had no choice but to react to our environment. It is sad, yet predominantly still present in my generation. Checking likes gets in the way of our daily lives because it distracts us from more important things and events that go on.

It all started during my middle school years. Instagram was popping. It was the new shoes on the street, a popular hairdo or the snazzy place to go out with friends. A filter existed. We obsessed over which filter to use. The stress over how many people saw it but didn’t like the post weighed on the back of our shoulders. Still to this day, it has remained that way.

If we didn’t get enough likes we didn’t feel cool enough to fit into society. As a result, not only did we have the stress of school, but we also had the strain of having an Instagram. Since we are younger, we are more sensitive to the public opinion.

Since Instagram was launched in 2010 and has been prominent for almost ten years. The rapid change of the app has shown that it has affected the daily lives of my age group. According to Statista, 71 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 use Instagram. The usage of this app has grown exponentially and has remained popular amongst the age population that I categorize myself in.

High school was a stage in my life when there were a lot of “cliques”. Once you fit into a group, it was who you always went out with, posted pictures with and shared conversations with. The focus of likes is always on our mind because when someone views your profile it is one of the first things they notice.

It has been proven by the blog Brandwatch that Instagram clocks up to 4.2 billion likes every day. We have come to normalize the way we deal with social media and how it mentally affects us. There’s no telling on forcing people to worry less about the likes they get. However, there is a certain point where it influences your personal life.

Personally, once I post something on Instagram, I tend to avoid the app for a couple of hours, so I am not obsessing over the views, likes and comments. By doing this, it will remove stress concerning the amount of likes that you get the minute you post something. Trust me, it might be hard to do but it helps you in the long run!

There are many names in the great institution of journalism that can be considered legendary. However, very few of them can claim they changed journalism as we know it. Hunter S. Thompson was one of those legends, and gonzo was one of those game changers in journalism.

In an American counterculture sick and tired of the status quo, Thompson provided a fresh, first-person perspective of the significant events of the time.

That style, called gonzo, came out of the “New Journalism” movement of the 1970s, one that favored a combination of emotions and facts to not only tell a better story, one that put all the facts into a more human context, but to also report the news in a way that could capture and hold the attention of its readers.

However, Thompson would take “New Journalism” a step further, adding a combination of satire, sarcasm, profanity and social critique to create stories and pieces of journalism that were funny, raw and informative.

From “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved” to “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” Thompson took a humorous and deeper look into the dark side of American counterculture. These pieces would not only put him in the public eye but make him a well-known figure in political journalism and pop culture. Thompson helped advance the craft of not only journalism but writing as a whole, with a narrative style unlike anything seen before.

Now, 40 years later, the fact that Thompson’s legacy still stands in publications like “Rolling Stone” magazine shows the value of his style of journalism.

Despite all the positives Thompson and gonzo have brought to the metaphorical dance, some argue this style, as well as the “New Journalism” movement, have contributed to sensationalism in the field, seen primarily on television and less so in print and online publications.

Even Thompson himself felt that journalism didn’t work to its full potential without the emotion sensationalism employs.

“With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism,” he said in his book titled “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72.”

However, despite the inherent lack of objectivity in what is considered “good journalism,” gonzo and New Journalism can not only be considered “good journalism,” but also, a significant improvement. The “New Journalism” movement came out of the feeling that traditional journalism was too impersonal and there was a need for a massive overhaul to put stories in a more human context, which is not only a goal in journalism but in writing overall.

So, “New Journalism” began to mutate from traditional journalism in the form of a narrative style, adding emotion and humor, creating a more human perspective which could change from person to person due to natural bias. The addition of humor and the human perspective also gave journalism a new sense of honesty, since we naturally use those tools to expose hidden truths.

As a result, “New Journalism” and its predecessors of a similar style not only became popular at a time of extreme political corruption and rising American counterculture but, 40 years after its rise, is still popular and the expectation from consumers.

Consumers, nowadays, don’t just want facts and numbers on a screen, but context and some levels of honesty. So, “New Journalism” and gonzo can not only be considered “good journalism” when done right, but it can even be better because it makes the story more open and honest, the ultimate job of a journalist.

So, are New Journalism and gonzo objective journalism? No. However, then again, it wasn’t designed to be, nor was life intended to be objective. Has it caused sensationalism in the media? Not enough to be blamed.

If anything, the full rise of sensationalism can be traced to networks such as CNN and FOX, who keep operating 24 hours a day, but with very little news coming across the desk. It can even go as far as the business side, who need to maintain a profit by putting up popular stories rather than the important ones.

As such, stories that usually wouldn’t get much attention end up getting the most attention, and the stories that should be getting the focus doesn’t. The greater focus of the Casey Anthony murder trial over the trial of Bernie Madoff, who stole approximately $20 billion in a Ponzi scheme at the height of the Great Recession, is one example of many. However, that’s another story for another time.

Will I go on an acid trip and drive drunk to Las Vegas? Definitely not. However, will I use this style to tell the best story possible? Absolutely. It may be New Journalism, but it’s the classic style that has made journalism better and decreased the amount of sensationalism. So, where’s my copy of “Rolling Stone”?

As the election cycle starts rolling, more and more information is being released to the public, and the path to the 2020 elections is steadily being formed. The Democrats saw two new high-ranked individuals announce their campaigns. Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris announced their decisions to join other Democratic candidates in the race for the White House.

But what does this mean for voters in 2020? These announcements are a prelude to what the election cycle will be like, as the race to the White House accelerates. It is important for voters to know exactly who is in the running, so that they can find a candidate they support. However, an excessive amount of candidates can also prove to be problematic. While Republicans are primarily backing President Donald Trump in his bid for reelection, the Democrats are having a difficult time finding one primary face for their party. This lack of leadership can not only be detrimental for the party itself, but for Democratic voters who might find themselves torn between the ever growing number of Democratic candidates.

Kamala Harris, who announced her candidacy in late January, is a child of Jamaican and Indian immigrants and has been in politics for 16 years. Before winning her seat in the U.S. Senate, Harris was a deputy district attorney for Alameda County, California, and then the San Francisco district attorney. Harris’ presidential campaign has also decided that they won’t be accepting donations from corporate PACs. In the past, Harris’ biggest campaign contributors included Werner Media, the University of California and Alphabet Inc.; however her top sources of funding included attorneys, retirees, financiers and the entertainment industry. Harris’ main backing thus far comes from fans of Obama’s progressive policies. And while Harris is rated as one one the more liberal members of the Senate, Harris has earned the ire of progressives who believe that she is not definite in supporting leftist ideas, particularly those who question her record on justice system reform in her days as district attorney.  

Harris’ fellow Democratic candidate, Bernie Sanders, does not share the same problems as her. Bernie Sanders — who is a self-described Democratic socialist — is the top choice for progressives in the 2020 election since he announced his bid for the presidency in February. The Brooklyn-born senator has spent a total of 38 years in politics, which has made him the longest serving independent senator. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990 and then the U.S. Senate in 2006, and in 2016 Sanders made his first bid for the presidency. Notably, most of Sanders’ campaign funds came from small donors in amounts of less than $200. Bernie, who attracted voters with the idea of universal healthcare and higher taxes for the wealthy, hasn’t been able to draw in centrist Democrats or win back people of color who were alienated by his last campaign. But that does not diminish from the fact that he still has a loyal base, and growing support from liberal Democrats.

With campaigns starting to ramp up their efforts, it is important to remember that this is only the beginning of the election season. The 2020 campaign trail has not yet been determined.  As of now, Harris and Sanders are the two most favored Democratic candidates. However, if Joe Biden were to run, he’d have a tremendous amount of support and backing. As would Beto O’Rourke, who recently became a popular choice with liberals.

The one conclusion I drew from all this, is the fact that the Democratic Party has no clear leadership. There is no one who is taking center stage, and guiding the party as a whole, there are instead multiple factions who are vying for their favored politician to make a bid. As of right now, Harris and Bernie have the most support from Democrats, and it appears that the primary election is heading towards a showdown between the two. But I would argue that it is simply too soon to know what the 2020 campaign trail will look like.

Drexel University recently received a $5 million donation, from Gregory S. Bentley, CEO of Bentley Systems, a leading global provider of software solutions, and his wife Caroline. The Bentleys aren’t alumni of Drexel, but Gregory Bentley is on Drexel’s Board of Trustees and is the chair for the Pennoni Honors College Advisory Board. It’s no surprise he wants to donate money to the honors college.

Bentley, Drexel and American Campus Communities are all teaming up to build a new habitat for honors students. Previously a closed residence hall, Calhoun Hall,  is currently being renovated into Bentley Hall. Bentley Hall will be a new complex which will host a living and learning community strictly for honors college students. As someone not in the honors college, I can’t understand why Drexel wants to spend so much money on something that isn’t urgently needed.

I do think Calhoun needed to be fixed and opened again after a few short years in “shutdown” mode, but a $35 million new project?

With their budget for this plan, Drexel could have updated the library, figured out a parking solution for their heavy commuter population, worked on the Academic Building, built an extra dorm or even added another set of classrooms.

Bentley Hall will accommodate about 380 students, two to a room, on eight floors. Attached to this traditional dorm will be a brand new two-story 10,000 square-foot glass and stone building for the Pennoni offices and seminar rooms.

I thought that was the purpose of Millennium Hall. The dorm has certain floors dedicated to honors students and MacAlister Hall is home to their college. Drexel now wants to move it all into one finite area. “Bentley Hall will be unique in allowing students to live in the same area in which study and programming take place. We think this will get more students involved earlier in opportunities for an enriched and socially engaged education,” Paula Cohen, dean of the Pennoni Honors College, said.

But isn’t that what college is for? I think if Drexel plans to keep accepting more students than they can accommodate, an eight-floor dorm isn’t enough. American Campus Communities (which owns University Crossings, The Summit at University City and Chestnut Square) is also involved in the plan, as they’re the lead developer in the project.

Drexel is really spending $35 million on the Bentley Hall project. What bothers me the most about some universities is that they never consult their students on their construction plans. In 2017 it was reported that Drexel had an endowment of $722 million. I’m sure it has gone up since then.

Every single student should be questioning at all times: what exactly does tuition cover and where does it go? Not to your teachers’ salaries or all the buildings named after people. If we all pay such a high bill to this institution, why is it that certain people get special privileges with the money?  

Your tuition is about $50,000, so question every single thing about your university until they consult the student body on their next project.

“I’m deeply grateful to Greg and Caroline Bentley, whose generous support will raise to a new level the already transformative honors experience for our most academically talented undergraduates, while also creating a state-of-the-art addition to our campus,” Drexel University president, John A. Fry said.

In case you don’t know what the transformative honors experience is, someone in the program not only graduates with honors but gets priority registration for classes, $25 of printing in the honors lounge per term, opportunity to take interesting honors classes and access to honors events like seminars, workshops, etc.

Yes, President Fry, we are all sorry we aren’t in the honors program and that Drexel thinks we aren’t academically talented, but we all don’t get the honors program perks.

“Caroline and I both benefited from enthusiastic honors program participation during college and we are gratified to be able to help Drexel’s Honors College students to now experience the best of all educational worlds — becoming well-prepared for great jobs, taking advantage of challenging but intimate liberal arts courses as the foundation for a well-rounded life,” Gregory Bentley said.

Drexel doesn’t bat an eye at challenging but intimate liberal arts courses. But the new project will change that.

Throughout the past two quarters, I have learned that the courses that I have been taking are not relative to what I want to do. As a result, I decided a couple weeks ago I wanted to switch my major from biology to psychology.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 33 percent of students in the United States change their major at least once. Once I came to terms with what courses I wanted to take, I realized psychology courses would relate to my dream of working with children more. Over time, I have learned that everything happens for a reason. Some college freshmen have a tough time seeing whether or not the courses they are taking fit who they are.

Are you planning on going into the medical field? As a kid, did you want to be a doctor when you grew up? How did you test relative to the average on the last biology exam? These questions have popped up more times than I could count the past five months. As a freshman, I have learned that maintaining a 4.0 GPA is attainable but extremely difficult with the course load taken on by a biology student. Not many schools allow a college student to start with such academic classes that are relative to their major like Drexel University. It is rewarding yet challenging to have continuous and extreme testing. It takes a certain student to be active and persistent to have effective time management skills from week one to week 10.

Whenever I encounter a biology student, that person is passionate in their area of study, and it shows. Ever since I was little, I was a kid who loved working with wildlife and people. As a result, my mind always leaned toward being interested in the science field, and it took some time to discover what career I wanted to pursue. At the end of my senior year of high school, I wanted to pursue a career in working with children, so I chose to major in biological sciences. So far, the first two quarters here at Drexel have tested my capabilities of what I want to do with my life. Although my career goal is still to work with children, I have realized what courses I would enjoy taking in my future which isn’t primarily all biology and chemistry courses. Time is an essential deciding factor in whether or not people want to change their area of study. I have learned that it may be hard to drop everything and totally switch to something different, but if you see yourself succeeding more in a different area of study, it is the better option.

Changing my major of biological sciences has crossed my mind because of the obstacles that any biology student on the pre-med track must take. It took analyzing and weighing out my options to finalize my decision of changing my major from biology to psychology. As my academic advisor told me, “it is easier to switch from biology to psychology rather than from psychology to biology”. I took these words to heart and used the advice that she gave me to decide what courses I wanted to take in the third quarter. If the thought pops up in your mind to switch your major, talk to your academic advisor and discuss options. When you can see yourself excelling better in a different major, take action.