Going into my first JanPlan two years ago I didn’t know what to expect. The only thing I had known about it that it was a time to step out of your comfort zone, take a different class, and explore other aspects of learning. I signed up for the Catholic Church and Hollywood class that year because it fulfilled two distribution requirements. I thought that the class would be a breeze. Not only did I hear from upperclassmen that it was an easy class, I was also raised in the Catholic Church and went to a Catholic school for most my life, and therefore had to take church history and other religious classes throughout my high school experience. Turns out, the class was easy. The class met three times a week, and every single day we watched a movie, the hardest part of the class being keeping my eyes open for three hours in the dark room. There were three relatively short essay assignments and there was no final.
My sophomore year, I decided to step out of my comfort zone. I took the African Music class being not at all musically inclined other than my experience with the recorder in the third grade. Since the class fulfilled the art distribution requirement, and I’m even less artistically inclined, I figured I would manage. A normal class day consisted of singing, drumming, and dancing. There were no assessments other than a few performances at a local church and during the Martin Luther King Day celebration.
I knew this year would be different when I signed up for Anatomy and Physiology. My mom, a retired flight nurse in the Air Force, recalled taking full semesters of both Anatomy and Physiology while in college. She was surprised that we could fit in all the information in just one month, recalling specific parts and functions of the human body that she was required to know. I knew it would be a lot of hard work, but I was prepared to dedicate my month to working hard. Going over the syllabus on the first day, I was a little bit overwhelmed with the amount of material, quizzes, and projects we were going to accomplish during the month. Dr. Klepach also warned us that people often get C’s and D’s on the quizzes and tests, which was worrisome as my grades and my GPA are always a primary concern. On top of it all, our professor wanted us to keep logs of our eating, exercising, and sleeping habits and to monitor our stress levels. Within the first few days of the class, I was completely overwhelmed by all the work and studying I had to do and called my mom for some support, only to hear her say “I told you so.” It was a matter of days until about a third of the class switched into a different class. The first week proved to be the hardest, listening to two hour long lectures and taking detailed notes on top of studying for a few quizzes and a lab test. It was really encouraging to hear Dr. K’s words of praise after the class average on our first lab test was 40%, well above the average of last year’s class. Although the subsequent weeks lightened up and my personal scores improved, the most important lesson I learned was balancing my life. Previously, when I got swamped with school work, I would often cut out exercising or a full night’s sleep to catch up with work. Dr. K stressed the importance of a healthy lifestyle, and this transformed me to be a better student. It not only forced me to stay on top of my work, but also kept me healthy during the time of the year when many people get sick. This aspect of the class was crucial in showing me that a healthy, balanced lifestyle can be achievable even with a rigorous school schedule, which is something I believe many college students tend to forget.
