Today I made a big decision on behalf of my mental, physical, and social health: I've decided to reduce the number of courses I am taking this semester from six to four. I came to this decision through a long deliberative process and I feel strongly that it is the correct move to make.
During orientation full-time students were told they should take all six courses being offered this semester so that they could be on track to finish the program in 12 months. I initially followed this advice, despite being alarmed at the prospect of taking six courses, because I figured I should wait to see what the typical workload is per course. Well, it turns out that each course has lots of reading and plenty of assignments - basically the equivalent of a 300-level social science course at Hamilton. And on top of this is the arduous task of figuring out the UWI system. Everything is done differently here from the way it is at Hamilton, so even the smallest of tasks - like getting the course readings from the library - can take several steps through the university bureaucracy. Last, I have no idea what to expect in terms of teachers' expectations for papers and the style of final exams. In sum, to be trying to figure out all these things for the first time while navigating an insanely tough course load sounds like a recipe for disaster.
When deciding if I could handle taking six of these types of courses in a 12 week period I first thought: why am I here? I came up with two reasons: 1) to learn about regional integration in the Caribbean and around the world by completing this Masters program, and 2) to get to know Barbados and the Caribbean by exploring, meeting people, and enjoying my time here. I came to the conclusion that taking six courses advances the first reason but severely harms the second, so much so that it would cease to exist for the first semester and be severely limited during the rest of the program. Furthermore, it turns out that taking six courses this semester instead of four would only shorten my time in the program by at most four months, with the more likely time penalty being in the 2-3 month range. So I was faced with two prospects. On the one hand I could rush through the program, destroying my mental, physical, and social health in the process, while also likely coming to resent the program and the University and ultimately hating my time here. Or on the other hand, I could spread out my course load over three semesters rather than two; in the process enjoying my time in Barbados by exploring and meeting interesting people, taking my time to do my practicum and two research papers (read: theses) correctly, and preserving my mental, physical, and social health all at the relatively small cost of a couple months of time and rent. Also, I know that I will be able to read and absorb more information if I have fewer classes. In other words, I will learn more by tackling less at one time.
I think the second choice is the correct one, as finishing in 12 months provides no great benefit over finishing in 14 or even 16 months. I know that the extra time away from home will be hard, but by that time I will be able to travel without restrictions and in general should be able to host more visitors due to my more relaxed schedule. Also, seeing as my current plan is to apply to PhD programs in the fall of next year, it does not make a big difference if I do that process from Barbados or from New York City. I will still be back in time to go to interviews and tour schools if I take 16 months to finish this program.
So in sum, I have decided I want to enjoy my time here and learn as much as possible rather than finish as quickly as possible at the expense of my broader experience here. This is the first, and odds are last, time I will get to live outside of the United States for a significant period of time. I believe I owe it to myself to get the most from this experience and taking four courses this semester is the best way to do so. And on that note, I'm off to do some reading on West Indies history!
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