My life was thrown into disarray recently. It all started on the first day back to school. I followed the routine I have had since freshman year; I walked to the University Center help desk and there it was—a sign that said planners would not be available until Sept. 5.
How would I survive syllabus week without a planner to write everything down? I took a deep breath and highlighted important dates in my syllabi, knowing I would soon write them in my formal, complimentary U of M planner.
On Sept. 5, I again walked to the UC help desk, where, to my horror, I found another sign. This one said no planners available until the middle of September.
Are. You. Kidding. Me.
I shared my misery and anxiety with fellow planner-users who, like me, were struggling to remember assignments and drop box deadlines. Then, the worst happened. Another sign was up, saying, “2017-2018 Planners are NO LONGER AVAILABLE.”
I called Justin Lawhead, associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students, to find out what happened to my beloved planners. Lawhead said there were two reasons for the disappearing planners: budget cuts and expenses.
“The planners are $7 a piece,” Lawhead said. “We produced around 1,000 this year.”
Those 1,000 planners went so fast, they were gone in one day, according to Robby Dockery, a junior marketing major who works at the UC information desk.
“The planners got here on Sept. 6, and they were gone by Sept. 7,” Dockery said. “People were lined up and waiting for planners.”
Sadly, I was not in line to get a planner that day. I won’t have my wonderful U of M planner for my senior year, but I got a cute one at Target. I guess it works.
