Before my ass hit the seat, she was quickly typing up a storm and had a few sheets of paper printed out and displayed across her desk. At least she was efficient. “Before you do, let’s go over sophomore requirements for your undergrad in the first two years. You did more than full time last year, knocking out a lot of classes right off the bat. I’m impressed that you maintained a perfect GPA while doing one point five times the recommended full-time hours.”

She turned back to her desk to click clack away at her keyboard before printing even more papers to spread out in front of me. I aspired to type that quickly.

“These three classes align with your currently declared major. It looks like you are taking two out of four on campus–math and biology. Your online classes may be affected, which will have you spending more time on campus than previously expected.” She was drawing circles, doodling across the page in advisor style notations while my insides churned.

“Can we look at all possible options?” I was reeling from this entire semester already, and we were nowhere close to midterms.

Mrs. Matthews was perched and ready at her computer. “Of course! What are you thinking of changing to? Will you declare a minor as well?”

I fidgeted again. “I’d like to see my options for something business related.”

She clicked around, printing out more pages to spread out and mark up. She rambled off a bunch of majors that sounded like no fun at all. “We have a general business degree that could encompass all aspects, or we have accounting, finance, marketing, international business, and business administration. There are some other niche majors if you are looking for pinpointing something within the business realm.”

The inside of my lip was going to be minced meat by the end of this conversation. “What happens if I can’t change my classes this semester?”

The reassuring look on her face told me that she’d handled many a situation like mine before. Parents demanding their kids change majors after they found out they were going for something unrelated to the family business, it felt like a normal occurrence here. “Your major change does not have to happen this semester,” she smiled. A warm smile. “Here, if you look, you can finish out this semester as is. These two classes here can be applied to your extra credit classes—the free credits as they call them. With your overtime work last semester, I think this puts you in a fine spot to finish this one out as planned.”

That sparked a little bit of hope inside my chest. That I would still get to feel like myself for one more semester before I was forced to concede and continue with the plan laid out for me.

“So, no immediate change is needed?” I asked.