The time has come yet again—bookbagging began Monday for the spring, and first-years have expressed mixed feelings about the registration process.
For roughly three weeks each semester, students are given time to create the schedule that satisfies them most before registration—a period known as bookbagging. Although this process can be stressful, picking new classes can also be very exciting.
Browsing through the course catalogue on DukeHub reveals a plethora of interesting classes that have been added. Alongside the usual suspects like Introduction to Political Science and Computer Science 101 are courses like Soccer Politics—cross-listed under multiple departments, including history and Romance studies—and Social Movements in Age of Globalization, also known as Global Protest—offered under departments such as Sociology and Literature.
“To me, [bookbagging is] a whole new system. I get to learn so much in such a short amount of time,” first-year Mina Mortchev said. “I’ve already book bagged a neuroscience class, two political science classes, a computer science class and my mandatory writing one.”
It is easy to spend hours scrolling through the different departments and classes that are being offered. But the question is, how do students go through the process?
First-year Karolina Photiades explained that her technique consists of looking at the subjects that interest her and then going through each of the different classes pertaining to those subjects.
“It saves me so much time," Photiades said. "I know what I want and what I like. It’s easy for me."
Although this may be a good strategy for some students, bookbagging is a much harder task for others, including first-year Ezgi Menzi.
“I’m interested in so much, so I end up spending a lot of time just scrolling through everything,” Menzi said.
In addition to the variation of bookbagging techniques, students also expressed mixed responses when asked about their feelings towards the bookbagging process as a whole. Students' emotions spanned from being enthusiastic to nervous, and from stressed to overwhelmed by the process.
First-year Cary Shindell, a Pratt student, indicated that bookbagging was relatively straightforward for himself and other Pratt undergraduates because most of their classes are chosen for them.
“I am taking classes to fulfill my requirements,” Shindell said. “I guess it’s not that exciting for me. I know what classes I’m expected to enroll in.”
First-year Elena Cavallero described it as “super exciting,” adding that she cannot wait to take her classes next semester.
“I’m finally taking classes that are not for my requirements so I have much more liberty. It’s very exciting for me," she said.
However, not everyone shared these positive feelings.
“To me, it’s just so overwhelming. There are so many options,” first-year Olivia de Gaudemar said. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
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