UCT – first impressions/registration

Wow! I don’t know if you can remember your first day of orientation/registration or maybe the first day of college, but take that feeling add ten and multiply times a thousand. That was basically my experience on Monday and Tuesday. I got to campus Monday morning and had to figure out where my lecture was going to be, fortunately I knew it was on the upper of the 3 campuses. One of my classes won’t start for three weeks and the lecturer held a class on Monday so that students could determine whether or not they wanted to take it before the drop/add period is over (so that students can decide if they like the class and drop it before they will be penalized financially). Tony dropped me off on one end of campus near a visitor’s center – I soon learned that it was the opposite side of campus from where I needed to be. That was okay, though, because on my way to the other end of campus I encountered the “O week” (orientation week) student organizations (called societies) fair. The only comparison I have to this is what I know from CofC. Sorry CofC, but this was 10 times better than anything put out on George Street. The gymnastics society brought a trampoline and did exhibitions, the dance club danced, the wine culture society brought wine (totally legal on campus, drinking age 18) and gave it out, the yachting club brought a yacht, the underwater club brought all kinds of scuba equipment, basically you name it – these groups brought it. It was awesome! I got a bit caught up with all of that and got some information from various societies and made my way toward the Humanities Graduate School Offices. Once I got there, I was directed into the Leslie building on the fifth floor, which will be my home for quite some time – all my classes will be on that floor and in the same room. There’s a conference room where all graduate level classes are convened. Shortly before my class was to begin, I got some information about registration and what is required. Unlike any registration I’ve ever been a part of, the registration process is completely done by paper – great for a paper trail, but quite unnerving considering the possibility of human error and the finality this process creates.
Anyway, I liked the try-out class and will be enrolling in International Relations Theory (figure I’m going to have a Masters in it, I might as well know what it is). Well that narrowed down one of the four classes I have to take. I spent most of Monday worrying about whether I should take 2 this semester and 2 next to even it out or 3 and 1 or what sort of order. I also have to write a dissertation to complete the requirements for my program. I have decided on taking three this semester and one next so that I can focus on my dissertation with a lighter course load next semester. The decision on which classes to take has been a difficult one. I was interested in the conflict courses (Conflict in Africa and Theory and Practice of Conflict Resolution), but those are taught in the same day following my IR Theory course and I know that will be more than I can handle in one day. I still may take one of them, though. After much deliberation and some unnecessary worrying, I registered for IR Theory, International Political Economy, and Politics of Poverty for this semester and International Organizations for next semester. I have until Feb 12 to decide if I want to change any of those.