Abigail Derkson/ Winonan

In the first week of classes, incoming students navigated the campus and attended class to get their first taste of life at Winona State University. This included acclimating their taste buds to Chartwells, building up back muscles to carry heavy textbooks and finalizing their schedules.

For students who wished to drop their classes for a full refund, the deadline passed on Friday, Aug. 29. Before this date, students could drop and add classes without penalty. Many students drop and add classes during this first week of school.

Paul Stern, manager of enrollment services, was one of the staff members who worked with students if they had questions about the drop or add process.

“For the most part,” Stern said, “it’s a very straightforward process.”

According to Stern, the Warrior Hub had only a few students come in with questions about the process.

“The information is covered in orientation,” Stern said, “with the idea being to frontload the information to empower the students.”

After this first week, students still have the option to drop a class. The class would show up as a ‘W’ to indicate the withdrawal on a student’s transcript, the student would still have to pay for the full cost of the class, regardless if the student withdraws in the beginning of the semester or the end.

For some students, their decision to withdraw could benefit them. Communication studies professor Lisa Glueck encouraged students to try to work with professors before withdrawing from a course.

“There isn’t one way of doing college and doing it successfully,” Glueck said. “Everyone learns differently.”

Ultimately, Glueck encouraged students to speak with their professors if they start to struggle in classes.

“Students should meet with their professors with an earnest heart to talk about the material and strategies for improvement,” Glueck said. “Since students have until the twelfth week of classes to withdraw from a course, it could be advantageous for students to stick it out and give it their best.

For many students, the temptation to drop a class can come at a price: a possible delay in graduation. Senior organizational communications major Bethany Stavran wished she had hung in there for one of her classes.

“I just didn’t put in the work,” Stavran said. “I had dug myself into a hole. If I continued with that class, it was going to take too much away from the other ones.”

Because Stavran had withdrawn from the class and two others in different semesters, she had to delay graduation. Looking back, however, Stavran said she still would have withdrawn from the classes.

“I think that if you have to withdraw, don’t regret it,” Stavran said. “You felt the need to drop it at the time, so it was probably the right decision.”

Stavran also advised students to talk to professors if they are struggling with classes and considering withdrawing.

“You just have to think of how much it’ll take to get your head above water,” she said.

The last day for students to withdraw from fall classes is Nov. 20.