I think one of the best feelings you can get out of college—and any job at that—is when you actually enjoy the work you do. It makes your major feel worthwhile; it makes you feel like you really wanna be great at something, and it makes you feel like an actual person.

But that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes we have classes that have nothing to do with our major, and maybe just plain suck. For instance, I was a Public Relations major for one semester a few years ago. About halfway through the semester, I realized that I never want to have anything to do with public relations for the rest of my life. I disliked everything I learned in my classes, I didn’t like any of my assignments, and I fundamentally disagreed with the concept of public relations as a whole.

That’s when you have to start making deals with yourself. When it’s too late to drop the course, and you don’t want to take a W, you have to make a plan to get through the semester. As a senior at Northern, and as someone who’s certainly had a few classes I could’ve done without over the years, that’s what I’m here to talk about.

First off, try not to fixate on how much you hate everything. That doesn’t sound that helpful on paper, but if all you think about is how much you don’t like the class, then you’re gonna drag your feet the entire semester. What helps me is taking it day by day. Think about what you need to do in class today. Don’t stress about that paper you barely understand; you’ve done harder work before, so just go to class, do what you have to do, and then you can leave.

There’s no easy way to say this, but you’re going to have to force yourself to do the work. Like I said, don’t stress yourself out over projects you don’t like, but definitely don’t ignore them either. My biggest piece of advice here is to always start early. Doing an assignment you care about at the last minute isn’t nearly as bad as doing an assignment you hate at the last minute. Your grades are still important, even if you don’t care about anything that’s being taught.

Finally, remember that this is temporary. This is only one semester, and not the rest of your life. You can get through a couple months of doing a class you don’t like. Chances are, you’ve had jobs that you hated even more than the class, and you stuck with those for way longer. Don’t drag your feet, get your work done, and let it become just another part of your schedule for the semester.

Some of this advice might seem a little blunt, but as I reach the final months of my time at Northern, I attest to the strength of it. You can never make yourself like something that you don’t want to do, but you can soldier through it.