As I wrap up my time here at Carolina, I feel very nostalgic. I reflect on the people I have met, the classes that I took, and the lessons that I learned. One of the most important lessons I have learned is that you are responsible for your own academic success. That lesson encompasses the letter grades earned in classes and more importantly fulfilling academic requirements towards graduation.
Being a double major, the classes I took were very important in order to graduate in my desired time frame of 4 years. In order to accomplish such a goal, I kept careful track of my progress towards graduation with the help of my academic advisors. Without a doubt, the most important piece of advice I can give you is to take advantage of this academic resource. UNC advisors are experts at facilitating students through each semester, so don’t wait until your senior year to talk to them! The last thing you want is to deal with the stress and anxiety of staying an extra semester or year to complete your major. So let me elaborate so you have a better understanding of the process.
To receive the best advice possible I went to different advisors each time to see if they gave me the same advice or guidance. Also, I planned out my classes by using the academic worksheets on the advising website (found here). I printed the worksheets for my respective majors based on the year, and highlighted the classes I had taken. Keep in mind that as you are doing this, make sure to pay special attention to the asterisks and the grades needed in order to receive credit for those classes. Before I went to my advisor, I always had my academic worksheet ready in order to compare my notes to theirs. This helped make my appointments much smoother, and allowed me the freedom in my senior year to relax, knowing that I had enough credits to make it to graduation without stressing myself out.
The advisors, along with many other resources on campus such as Career Services, The Learning Center, and The Writing Center, are here to help. Set up an appointment or attend drop- in hours. Just make sure that you go! You won’t regret it.