On Friday, the board of trustees at Santa Monica College reversed its progress on a controversial plan to offer its most popular courses at a higher price than its less popular classes. In-demand classes were scheduled to cost approximately $180 per credit unit, while normal classes only cost $46.

Icome from a large extended family with a lot of engineers, and when I go home for holidays—aside from the usual queries about boyfriends and jobs—I’m generally asked a lot of questions about why I chose the majors I ended up with.