By Ishitaa Chopra
The fear of having to drop a course is ever-present in the minds of Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students.
There’s the casual panic attack after a professor announces: “You will receive your grade before the deadline to drop the course so that you can decide if you want to drop or not.” Truthfully, this is the moment when only one word comes to mind: shit. And if you’re anything like me, naturally, the course you had to drop was a mandatory one and you did not study because the “semester just started.” Or if you aren’t like me and are responsible, maybe you just had a lot of things on your mind that week.
The wave of panic comes again when you receive your grade and you did indeed fail that assignment worth 25 per cent of your final mark. Now, of course, you can convince yourself that you still have a chance—which is unlikely.
But if that is not the case and you’ve found that all hope is futile, here are the five steps to dropping your course—that will maybe, hopefully not, but could possibly, screw up the road to getting your future degree.
1. Dawn of the internal panic
The phrase “it’s fine,” summarizes this step very clearly. The shock will come soon, but for now you’re in a blissfully ignorant place. This step is essential because this is when you just ignore and procrastinate until the internal shock sets in.
Personally, during this stage, I start working harder on other courses and try to ignore the inevitable demise of the GPA I’ve worked toward.
The pros of this step, of course, are that the shock is enough to fix your ways, get your shit in order and actually work harder. Only once panic sets in do you move on to the next stage.
2. Facing the wrath
Imagine this step as the trinity of doom. Anger comes from not only yourself but the scariest humans of them all: your parents. Your professor’s disappointment will complete that trifecta of deeply disappointed people if you are a sucker for academic validation. Symptoms of this stage include resentment and inner discouragement.
Once you have scolded yourself—or were scolded enough by your parents—you are ready to move on to the third step.
3. Lose all pride
Now, shame has taken you over. This step entails completely losing each ounce of self-respect to plead with the professor for two measly marks.
This stage can go two ways. First, your professor curves your grade like a Mcdonald’s Golden Arch (thank goodness!) or the professor does not budge and you have to make peace with your abysmal grade (*crying emoji*). If you’re dealing with the latter, then the next step will probably hurt the most. Sorry!
4. Try a different career path
It’s okay to cry it out. This step is incredibly overwhelming because it feels as if there is nothing but pure helplessness and hopelessness—don’t worry, that is completely normal. Once you are in this stage, hopefully, it lands on a weekend where you can spend hours feeling like crap and falling into a deep internet hole of how one becomes a professional bed-tester.
On the bright side, this leads you to the last stage of grief.
5. Drop! That! Course!
If you have successfully reached this stage, that means you have already opened up MyServiceHub—previously known as RAMSS—and clicked on the button, glowing in a halo of golden light, that has been faintly singing your name.
This is a courageous move is one that might haunt you for the rest of your academic career. Or, this could lead you to new paths to a later graduation or open doors to new careers you never knew existed. Either way, change can be a good thing.
If you went through all five steps, perhaps you have found a new sense of self. Hopefully, this experience led you to drop your course but still maintain some sense of mental well-being. I think that dropping a course is a rite of passage every student has to go through to finally graduate—if you make it there on time. And if not, that’s okay because “on time” is subjective.
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