HGSE Admissions Blog

Before the semester had even started, I kept being asked from friends and family what classes I would be taking. The reality is you don’t quite know until you go through course previews and registration during orientation week. As an avid HGSE blog reader when I was going through the application process to HGSE, I thought I knew how to tackle the elusive course previews or shopping period upon arrival to campus in August. Yet even with the best laid plans, I was hit with some unexpected surprises!

Here are some tips that kept me sane and organized during that time:

• Have a plan!
  • Over the 2-day shopping period, you have the opportunity to preview 30-minute classes to get a sense of what the course will be like and feel out the Professor’s style and expectations. I had done some homework beforehand and had some classes I wanted to prioritize and so made sure I went to those previews. Some of the more popular courses require you to write essays and demonstrate why you are interested in the course and what you might bring into the classroom. I learned very quickly that it is important to not overthink these essays. Being present at the course preview can greatly help you tackle some of these responses, many of which are due in a short turn-around time!

• Be Open and Flexible!
  • While I had a couple of courses I knew I wanted to potentially take, I kept an open mind through course previews. By being open and flexible, I was able to have contingency plans in case I didn’t get into a particularly popular course. It allowed me to be excited about any and all the possibilities and not be disappointed by certain outcomes. By being open and sitting in on preview classes that I didn’t necessarily think I would be taking but was just fascinated by, I ended up discovering more classes I wanted to take but didn’t have room for!

• Reflect on what you want to get out of your coursework!
  • I took stock of where I wanted to be 9-months from now and what skill sets I wanted to focus on to get me there. For example, I wanted one course to address my lack in education policy foundations, another to address my leadership capacity, and another to work on my quantitative skills. One course I thought I wanted to take ended up not being quite what I expected when I sat in on the course preview. Knowing what I wanted to work on and get out of my coursework allowed me to find an alternative class that still fit the bill when my original plan didn’t pan out as expected.

• Trust the process!
  • Above all, trust the process. It can be overwhelming at times when there seems to be quite a bit of uncertainty but know that you do have a lot of resources to lean on to help you navigate the process! Professors, Teaching Fellows, other students, and my Program Administrator for EPM, Andy Hall, were all wonderful resources to bounce ideas with and get tips on how to make the most of my courses here.

I’m now six weeks into classes and I know I made the right choices as I’m constantly engaged with probing questions and delighted when I unexpectedly string common threads throughout my diverse classes.

My attempt at organizing my thoughts…

Blog written by Dan Manuyag. Photos provided by Dan Manuyag.

Aloha! I’m Dan and come to HGSE from Honolulu, Hawai`i where I was most recently working as a college counselor supporting high school students in their post-secondary endeavors. Before that, I worked in Higher Ed Admissions. As a student in the Education Policy and Management Program at HGSE, I am cultivating my leadership skills while exploring different sectors within the field of Education to figure out how I can make the most impact. Throughout my career, I have been committed to supporting and working alongside underrepresented students, particularly within Native communities and the first-gen. My undergrad studies was in Gender Studies with a concentration in Labor and Economics. Since then, much of my professional and personal interests has been informed by my commitment to social justice. When I’m not studying, serving the community as one of the Equity Fellows, or attending speaker events across campus, I enjoy community building through arts & culture and the outdoors.