As I ate my way through a bag of Cheeto Puffs, I waited anxiously for my alarm to sound off to signify that spring class registrations were open.

After entering your junior year, each college at FAU constructs mandatory focus classes for each semester.

Focus classes provide background knowledge before being able to access niche electives, which are the cause of my stress breakouts and anxious eating.

I would have graduated with my bachelor’s in Multimedia Studies: Journalism in Fall 2021. Because of the lack of seating in my focus classes, I won’t be graduating until Fall 2022, so I’ve become familiar with the hassle and disappointment that class registration brings.

Julia Cardoso, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering, said her schedule has been affected due to required classes overlapping each other and a lack of faculty

“Some classes offered little sections. For the Physics lecture, there were only two [scheduled classes] and one overlapped during all the available Calculus II sections, so I had to do it fully online, which is really annoying,” said Cardoso.

Cardoso had a difficult time filling up her schedule because the three available classes for Calculus II were only available on Tuesday and Thursday during the same time by different professors.

Like Cardoso, when creating my schedule for Spring 2022, I had to choose between two focus classes, “Coverage of Public Affairs” and “Public Opinion” because they were scheduled during the same time.

Do you know what rarely has schedule overlaps? FAU sporting events.

If the person in charge of coordinating sporting events is promoted to organizing class schedules for registration, we could actually graduate on time.

After being fully online for the past year, colleges should place some of the focused classes online or during the summer session for those who weren’t able to secure a seat in a required class so they would still be able to make their graduation date.

Advisers aren’t going to be able to lift every restriction for students who are locked in this predicament, so there needs to be a change in scheduling and the hiring of more faculty.

Luisa Ortiz, a senior who’s double majoring in graphic design and art history, shares the same disdain for the lack of courses being offered and the amount of faculty teaching in the College of Arts and Letters, particularly in the upper-level classes.

“Basically any class around the 4000 level [for art history courses], there are very limited options, even though there are about 20 classes listed because the staff currently has like three or five professors that are able to teach,” said Ortiz.

Ortiz mentioned that within the lack of courses, professors’ specialties are limited to contemporary art, meaning the history of Asian and European art is uncommon in her curriculum.

Her study abroad program mirrors the same lack of diversity in art history courses that she has on campus.

“Unfortunately, I was looking at the availability of the colleges that FAU is partnered with [through the study abroad program] and they do not have classes that would be equivalent to graphic design classes at FAU,” said Ortiz. “It would almost be like wasting an entire semester if I were to get a broader education.”

Staff that schedule focus classes during the same time cause students to not only have a later graduation date, but it costs more money for students to fill their schedule with classes that aren’t required for their program.

Multimedia journalism majors, like myself, have the same issue with only four faculty members teaching upper level courses in our college.

“Coverage of Public Affairs” is only taught during the spring semester because the professor, Ilene Prusher, took over “Freelance and Feature Writing.”

The focused classes that each major requires have limited staffing and class availability.

The university, aware of this and continuing to not design a schedule that is more flexible and beneficial for students, creates more stress in students.

Going through this process, I understand Kanye West’s decision to name his debut album “The College Dropout” because class registrations are nothing short of a catastrophe.

If you are struggling with similar issues, make an appointment with your advisor at Success Network. There you can structure your graduation plan and ask if he/she would be willing to lift the restrictions if it’s delaying your graduation date. To file a complaint, visit the FAU homepage, find the college of your choosing, and under the contact tab, email the director of the school.