I am what some people would like to call an over-achiever because I have three majors, but I look at it as I have diverse areas that I could go into once I enter the work force. However, I have to wait to see if I can complete all the classes in my designated majors.

In general, I did not have any conflicts with scheduling classes, until it came time to sign up for classes for my final year. I ran into conflicts with two classes that I need to take in order to graduate with two of my majors, and the conflicts are within two departments that are “supposed” to be working with one another.

The Art and Communications Departments are not working together even though they have classes that correlate.

When I came in as a freshman, I had my art major already declared with a graphic design concentration, and I was told it would be in my best interest for me to pick up something in the communications field because they go together easily. I ended up picking up a minor in communications, and just this year I switched to a communications major.

I had classes that I took for my art major that counted for my communication degree, so it seemed like it would be really simple to pick up the communication major.

At the time, I thought my senior year was going to be a breeze because I had caught up on the classes I had missed while abroad for a semester and then picking up a new major, but then I ran into this conflict.

I wasn’t the only one who was in this same predicament. There is another student who is now forced to give up something she loves just to make sure she completes all the classes she needs to graduate. That includes a communications class in West Des Moines.

Not only were the professors not willing to cooperate with us, but also they didn’t give us many options.

We both contemplated dropping our art majors to minors because we would be done with the art minor without that class.

Some professors are making us drive to class in West Des Moines just because the Art and Communication Departments do not want to cooperate with each other.

But it doesn’t stop there. With both of these majors you need to have an internship to be able to graduate. Since I have been taking 20 credits a semester along with trying to get two internships, it has been hard to make time for everything.

Well, the Communication Department understands that students are busy with school and their social life and forcing them to take two internships when their majors overlap is ridiculous.

The Art Department is not willing to allow me or any other students in this situation to take only one internship. They think I need to have one internship specific to art and one internship specific to communications. When you are a graphic-design-concentration art major and wanting to try and get a job inside that concentration, then I believe I should be able to take one internship for credit that will count for both my communication and art majors.

Why can’t these departments communicate and come up with a creative solution to the problem?