At Washington and Lee University, the way that the overload policy is being applied has certainly changed -- and students were quick to realize this, because they were no longer getting overloads approved to the amount requested. This happened in tandem with the recent announcement that current first-years -- and future students -- would no longer be allowed to pursue a dual-degree (meaning that they can no longer earn both a BS and a BA) or more than three declarations at a time (and no triple majors, only two minors and a major or two majors and a minor, at most).

As someone directly affected by these policies, and someone who does not typically accept "no" for an answer, I set up appointments with one of my former professors and two deans who are all involved in the Faculty Executive Committee -- the group that is responsible for approving or denying overloads beyond 16 credits as well as instituting these broader changes. I wanted to find out what the motivations for these changes were, from the people in charge themselves. While my professor and one dean were supportive and made understandable arguments regarding the recent overload decisions, my conversation with the other dean went horribly, to say the least.

Of course, being not unmindful of the future and respectful to people even when I strongly disagree with them, I kept my thoughts to myself throughout the meeting. That dean will be referred to, from here on, as Dean X. Because what Dean X said to me frustrated me, and because I am sure that it will frustrate others, here is an overview of Dean X's arguments and my reaction to them.

1. Students who overload fill up classes and create registration problems for everyone else.

In the past, Dean X has said that students who overload are somehow taking up all the spots in classes, which majorly contributes to the registration issues students face during each registration period. In our conversation, s/he said this was not fair because in some cases students were taking double what other students were. As a student on the Registration Working Group last year and the Registration and Class Schedules Committee this year, I know that registration issues are far more complicated than that -- and the handful of students who are overloading are not necessarily always the ones who take up all of the most in-demand classes. Really, the heart of that issue is that the Business Department in some ways steals the show from the rest of the liberal arts nature of our university, and because there are too many business majors, students can only take up to two business courses each semester -- and upper-level classes are restricted to only declared business majors. The high demand creates problems because the Business Department is not looking to hire more professors in the near future. Moreover, students taking double what other students are did not strike me as a strong argument, because it was a faculty decision to not charge by credit load because students are already paying enough. Also, it's not like students who overload are getting some awesome benefit to their GPA or anything. In reality, overloading is a lot of work and requires a lot of effort.

2. Students who overload are the type of students who look for the minimum amount of work required to still get an "A."

Dean X claimed that these students weren't going "above and beyond," and that with fewer classes, then students could focus on their four classes and dive deeper into the material. However, I disagreed on both of these points. First, I think that if a student is working towards getting an A, then that should not be seen negatively -- because I know plenty of students who aim for B's and are perfectly happy with that. Second, not every student wants to "dive deeper" into the material of every course they are taking. Even if I was taking just four classes, I do not care enough about statistics to want to do more than what is required of me for my class. I want to learn the basics, but I do not see personal value in knowing everything there is to possibly know about statistics. I would argue that many of my peers feel the same way.

3. A liberal arts education is about the educational experience and not credentialing everything, and students need to focus on one area to specialize in -- because you can only have one life and one career. You have to make choices.

While I, of course, agree with Dean X that you will inevitably have to make choices and that a liberal arts education is about the educational experience, I know for a fact that people don't always stick to the same career path forever. As far as narrowing things down to one specialization, I thought that the point of a liberal arts education was to prepare students for life and for careers that do not yet exist -- because we get a well-rounded education, and who knows how we can make connections with everything that we've learned later in life. I agree that things sometimes get out of control with regard to credentialing, but in terms of taking as many classes as I have in as many different departments as I have, my goal was never to just get more notches on a belt or checks in boxes, as Dean X suggested. I thoroughly enjoyed my classes, from my environmental studies to history of Electronic Dance Music to Hispanic linguistics, and I don't see anything wrong with wanting to get credit for and having a record of work done.

Also, some of my credits reflect service work and not actual classes. As a Bonner, I will have done over 1800 service hours by the time I graduate. Because this kind of commitment is incredibly difficult to explain to interviewers, on applications, and even to friends outside W&L, I have tried to highlight some of my work by getting credits on my transcript (through poverty fieldwork, environmental service learning, and Shepherd summer internships in New York City and the Dominican Republic). This semester, I am working with a dance mentoring program for middle school girls -- but I cannot get the three credits offered. Dean X's response was that Bonner was most definitely well-known, more so than even Teach for America and that I would be able to write about my experiences in an introductory cover letter. My problem is that I don't always get a cover letter to explain, and with my various service placements, I can never guess what someone else might consider to be intriguing or worth talking more about.

Lastly, careers shift and interests can converge. Business and politics are very related, and studio art can be applicable to both fields by way of activist art, communications design, and knowing how to communicate cross-culturally or without words.

4. Extreme overloads have become the new norm and have only been an issue for the past seven or so years.

Dean X said that because the overload petition form listed 23 credits, s/he was concerned that students were aspiring to take 23 credits -- and that students were trying to take more just to outdo their peers. As someone who ended up taking 23 credits, I can personally attest -- no one is aiming to take 23 credits. Whenever I would tell people I was and still now when I tell people that I did, they look at me like I am crazy. Most people know their own limits, and for most students, 14 credits at W&L is it.

In regard to the timeline of extreme overload requests, my pushback was that in the past seven or so years, W&L also began enrolling QuestBridge Scholars, Johnson Scholars, and many more international students. Larger proportions of these student groups stay independent (not affiliated with Greek life), and classes provide a productive outlet to both feel more integrated into the W&L community as well as meet professors and other students they might not otherwise.

Dean X said that if the purpose of these students being on campus is to enrich the W&L community, then they cannot just be "taking classes and studying all day."

I objected to that stance on so many levels. First, I have been just as involved on campus despite taking almost double what other students were. Second, this kind of goes against the previous argument in #2, where Dean X said that students should try to go above and beyond getting the "A." Third, these students contribute to the W&L community by enriching class discussions and atmospheres -- and that should be good enough for an academic institution. If a social requirement is expected of these students, then make it explicit -- because this bureaucratic notion is nowhere in writing. Not to mention that there are many other students who do not overload and also do not contribute much to the community in terms of club involvement, event participation, etc.

Dean X also said that independent students can be creative in finding ways to get involved in the community, but I countered that with the sad state of many of our clubs: we have five clubs that do the same thing, with maybe seven active members in each. Dean X replied that that is simply a side effect of a self-governing, student-run system.

5. Auditing classes can be good for you.

Dean X told me that like me, s/he had many interests too, and often audited one class per semester "just for the sake of learning." Dean X said that not having the pressure of a grade was relieving. However, I think that such a statement comes from a place a privilege. It's nice that Dean X could use the time to just take classes and do extra work, and didn't need to instead use that time for things that would earn either money or credit. Many of the rest of us don't, whether it's because of financial, parental, peer, or perceived pressure. The pressure of a grade also often forces many of us to learn the material. Then again, along with my response to #3, I don't see why students shouldn't get credit for work that they are doing, and I believe students should be able to have their endeavors listed on the record. Saying you did something is not always enough to convince other people that you did.

6. Dual degrees are useless, and wanting to prove people at home "wrong" is a silly motivation that should also be left at home.

In our conversation, of course, dual degrees came up because I am working towards a BA in politics and studio art and a BS in business administration because I already have 117 credits. Dean X said it was a fruitless pursuit, because getting two bachelor's degrees did nothing for employers or grad schools (which contradicted the earlier argument about liberal arts education being all about the educational experience) and s/he said that I should just go to graduate school. I replied that although I understood that two degrees at the bachelor's level would not actually do much, right now I have both the time and money to do so. Grad school funding is not guaranteed, and the chances of me going to grad school for art or business right now are slim. I told Dean X that if it's all about the educational experience, we have to recognize that it's an individual, personal thing. I also shared that I think a BS and a BA would do more for me than a BA and an Associate's, like many people I know from home will probably receive, and that part of me as a QuestBridge Scholar is motivated to accomplish all that I can because I want to inspire students at my old high school and also prove to those who discouraged me along the way that they were wrong.

Dean X's response was, "I'm sure there are many naysayers, but you just have to cover your ears and say la-la-la to them. You being here is enough, and that's a really unhealthy reason for you to do things... You should really leave that behind." These statements were also loaded with privilege; Dean X does not know my life or how I define success for myself. Sure, coming to college was good -- but it was always assumed that I would. It's not like I was expected to just graduate high school and do nothing else, just because my family faced some long-term economic adversity. Getting the most out of my college experience while I am here is something I see as an obligation for my full-ride.

And, I cannot change the fact that a big inspiration for me when I'm feeling low is that I get a little satisfaction from proving my old guidance counselor wrong, with every accomplishment. He had once told me, "If you can't afford a top four-year college, then Massachusetts has some great state schools." When something like that is said to you and you know you're being told to settle, you don't -- and if you're me, you keep striving to do the best you can do, at all you can do.