Shop 'til you Drop

It’s no secret that it’s impossible to get motivated at the start of a semester. What with seeing all your friends again for the first time in months, avoiding sobriety during Frosh Week and pretending day-drinking is acceptable at Lawnparties, it’s almost as if the University planned to make you forget the reason you actually came to Princeton: to attend classes. Thankfully, the University also kindly offers us a solution to our lack of motivation: the Add/Drop period.

How does the Add/Drop period help me get motivated, you ask? It doesn’t. It just helps you disguise your laziness under a veil of indecision. Forgot to sign up for precepts and missed the deadline because you were too busy getting a head start on the Prospect 11? “I’m sorry Professor, I just switched into this class.” Behind on your readings because you were trying to touch one of Aaron Carter’s elbows? “I’m sorry Professor, I just switched into this class.” Slept through every single seminar for a week straight? "Hello Professor, my name is X and I just switched into this class." Accidentally snored halfway through that 400-person lecture? Don't suffer under the glares of the professor and your fellow students for another agonizing 50 minutes — gather your things and march right out of your lecture and back to your room, where you can log onto SCORE and say goodbye to a semester of embarrassment. Felt the urge to unload the contents of your stomach during Friday morning seminar and ran out of class? Drop it like it’s hot.

Shopping classes can beat the boredom of having to settle down into a ho-hum routine right after a summer of doing God-knows-what in who-knows-where. What better way to evade the doldrums than to traverse unfamiliar territories and put yourself into someone else’s shoes for a day? Feel better about your life by pretending to be a pre-med. Even if you have no intention of taking organic chemistry, venture down to McCosh 50 to observe the hundreds of underclassmen about to embark on the most dangerous journey of their lives. Because you’re not actually going to take the class, instead of paying attention you can play a drinking game — one shot each time a freshman starts sobbing into his notes.

Add/Drop can also maximize your romantic prospects if they’re looking slim. Nothing is worse than walking into a class full of people you could never imagine getting to know on Prospect Avenue on a Thursday night. Say you signed up for “Women’s Lives, Women’s Bodies,” specifically to meet chicks, only to find that it was full of otherguys who signed up to meet chicks. Fear not, young Casanovas: Add/Drop can hook you up. Not feeling the headgear on the guy next to you in Micro? Shop yourself into a seat next to that cutie with the eyes in Macro. "What if I have a long-term crush, can Add/Drop help me too?" I hear you ask. Why of course! Even if the object of your desire refuses to divulge his or her personal information, you can find your way through classes until you land a spot right next to them. They may not be your friend on Facebook, but there's no blocking on ICE.

Sadly, the time of fun, games and getting away with everything short of cold-blooded murder comes to an end just short of two weeks into classes. Thank you, Add/Drop, for making the transition back to school a little easier for us all.