New year, new rules. It’s a story as old as time. Every year we come back to school, there are brand new regulations set to make this year the best one yet. While some of them truly do make a difference in student lives, others feel, frankly, arbitrary and ridiculous. For example, this year, our teachers have been told not to let us switch support seminar classes the day of. As a member of the large community of indecisive students who regularly forget about club meetings or meetings with teachers, this new rule makes me feel overwhelmed and upset. 

This rule was set in place to encourage students to sign up for support seminars on time, and while I understand the struggles teachers face with students defaulting to their class and taking seats from students who need them, the rule does not account for last minute meetings with teachers or clubs. 

The only time in the school day allotted to signing up for support seminar is during advisory, and oftentimes, students don’t get around to signing up during the 30 minute long period. This means that if students don’t remember to sign up by Monday night, they have no chance of going to their desired classroom, and end up stuck defaulting anyway. Unless the school gives us more time and reminders to make it easier for us to sign up for support seminar, the problem will only get worse. 

Oftentimes I find myself doing homework late Monday or Tuesday night or in class on a support seminar day and realizing that I need more help than I thought I did. If I can’t switch into that teacher’s class the morning of then I’m left confused for another week before I can sign up again. 

If it’s inconvenient for teachers to switch students the day of, then maybe students should have the power to move themselves up until the end of break before support seminar. This way students will feel less pressure to decide where to go for support seminar before they are sure where they need to find help. 

Ultimately, I understand the desire to get students to remember to sign up, eliminating the opportunity to switch classes last minute creates more problems than it solves. The purpose of support seminar is to allow students to get the help they need. If they can’t spend that time with the teacher of their choice, then that time is essentially wasted.