Yes, you guessed it – it is that time of year again. No, I’m not talking about breaking out the costumes for Halloween or even the start of Iowa parka season.

It is time to once again register for classes. It feels as if we haven’t been here long enough to suffer through another touch-tone trauma yet, but it is after midterm, and those lucky seniors who will be graduating next spring get to begin the oh-so-enjoyable process this week.

First things first: it might be a good idea to get your hands on a copy of the schedule of classes for the spring semester soon. You can just borrow one from a friend or roommate.

But beware. If they can’t find it when they find out that every section of every class they needed was full, they will come after you. This messy scene can be easily avoided by just stopping at the book store. For only a dollar and a half you can have your very own copy of the lovely blue bulletin.

In the long run, this could prove to be a much easier and less painful option.

Then it might be aÿgood time to stop by your adviser’s office. You may have been trying to avoid the office for any number of reasons, but it is time to move on and pay a visit. Planning classes is much easier if you can look at your degree audit. This may also force you to deal with the fact that taking only 12 credits per semester may put you on a six-year plan.

After you have both of these key items, you can begin to figure out your classes for next semester. That sounds easy enough in itself. All you have to do is flip through the list, find some classes that you want to take and jot the numbers down. It might work this way for some lucky people, but it never fails that all of the classes I want to take are only offered in one section and always at the very same time.

While struggling to figure out which class can fit where, you also have to take into consideration all of the other conflicts in your life.

Some classes actually are offered at 7 a.m., but unless you enjoy getting up at the crack of dawn and going to class, these are probably out of the picture. For some people, this may mean all classes before noon are out of the question. Having time to work and catch up on your soap opera might also be a cause of concern.

Grabbing the phone and preparing to dial that infamous number, you take a deep breath and prepare for what may prove to be the most aggravating event of your young adult life.

After dialing up your courage and getting connected with the registration system, it is time to enter some other information and your coveted four-digit code.

The moment of truth has now arrived. You carefully enter your course requests with care, not wanting to accidentally enroll in underwater basket-weaving or anything of the sort. You get into the first couple of classes you choose, and you are beginning not to mind the voice on the other end of the phone.

In fact, you are having a sort of bonding experience. Then just when you are no longer feeling as hostile and anxious as when you originally called, your dreams of a perfect schedule are crushed. Slamming the phone against the wall and yelling colorful remarks at the top of your lungs makes you feel a little better, but not for long — you realize that you may have just caused serious damage to your roommate’s phone.

It is times like this that it’s a good thing registration is computerized because most people wouldn’t want to be at the receiving end of those hostilities. Recovering from that could take years and thousands of dollars worth of therapy.

With any luck, you eventually will get into classes that fill your requirements and survive the whole process no worth for the wear. It is a kind of rite of passage — survival of touch-tone registering.

Just think, once you finish for this semester, you won’t have to worry about it again for another few months. This is just enough time to recover and prepare to deal with all of it again.

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Laura Luiken is a sophomore in English from Webster City.