On Monday graduate students were allowed to register for spring courses starting at 6 a.m. A couple classes I wanted to take seemed rather popular, so I set the alarm for 5:55, after going to bed at 3 a.m., and not falling asleep until 4 a.m.

My strategy paid off, however, as I got in the classes I wanted. Though many others must have had the same idea as me, because after I entered my first course and hit submit, the browser hung for about five minutes waiting for a response.

As an interaction design graduate student, there were three courses I had to sign up for:

• Design Seminar II
• Design Studio II (supposed to be an ass kicker)
• Research Methods for Human Centered Design

I signed up for two additional courses:

• Information Visualization with Ben Fry
• Understanding Perception Through Design (mini)

I’m not sure about taking five courses. This semester I took four, and I’m plenty busy. But the perception course is only half a semester.