By Nicholas Proch

This is now my fifth year at Central. Five years of tuition, housing, books, gas, food and countless other monetary obligations that allow my degree to take shape. I thought about putting the time in to find out the exact cost of tuition, housing, books and whatever else I can find that I’ve kept the receipts for, but I didn’t. I chose not to do so, not because I am lazy and overwhelmed with the six classes I am take, but I didn’t want to think about the amount of money that I’ve payed to this university.

What I can tell you is that this year, which is my fifth year at this four-year school, I’ll spend at least $15,000 on tuition, rent and my books. This doesn’t include food. Doesn’t include fuel in my car. Doesn’t even include my utility bills. With this money, I could pay off my credit cards, the remainder of my car payments and go on an all-inclusive trip for a week to Punta Cana.

Before this causes me to have a heart palpitation, let me move away from the amount of federal reserve notes that I’m going to spend this year because of my own decisions.

When I came to school, my path was not defined at all. I was thrown into a pre-business program that didn’t get along with me, and I didn’t get along with it. It wasn’t that there was a lack of understanding for the program and material being taught, but it bored the life out of me. We all come to this campus to learn, but more importantly be engaged, and this just wasn’t cutting it.

I needed to make a move, and I did, to the Communication department. It was at this point that I actually got a fair and close look at what my path should be. However, this time it wasn’t from just myself, I actually had an advisor who went through and told me what I should be taking if I was interested in what to fulfill my major.

I had been getting advising before this change, but I wasn’t taking it very seriously. Taking classes in whatever subject interested me seemed like more fun than actually taking a math class that I should have been taking.

At this point, my advisor told me that it would be nearly impossible to graduate in four years due to the fact that I had taken so many courses that didn’t fit and skill areas or fill requirements. That was a slap in the face. I was awoken to the fact that I actually needed to listen to what an advisor was telling me.

If you’re a first or even second year student at this university, pay attention to your advisor. You can think that you can figure out what you want to take to graduate, but then you’ll be in a position that a lot of us have been in. It doesn’t hurt to spend 15 minutes with a professor and have them tell you exactly what you should be taking.

You can save yourself a lot of time, money and stress by focusing on your end goal and continually make sure that you are taking what you should be taking. Advising season is upon us, don’t let it pass without making sure you have a plan for your next semester and beyond.