Week 1

The pros and cons of summer class: a narrative.

As the first year of the masters program comes to an end, I can't help but look back at not only how far the cohort has come, but how my personal determination to finish has slowly been depleting. I know, two totally different ends of the spectrum. From one perspective, I'm ecstatic that I got the ball rolling and I'm highly anticipating reaping the benefits of finishing the program. But on the other hand, I'm cursing at myself for thinking I was mentally and physically ready for the challenge of going to school and working. It has been a challenging year and we still have one more to go with a little break in the middle. Which brings me to the issue of summer classes. Alas, summer has arrived and for educators and students alike, it is a cherished time that flies by and next thing you know, it's the first day of school again. As an undergraduate, I absolutely adored intersession courses. They were shorter, notorious for being easier because of the time constraints, but still worth the same amount of credits and the same quality of work! Condensed classes that get straight to the point of what you need to know and learn to avoid wasting precious time should be practiced in most educational institutions and I believe this concept of time management says something about teaching practices. There are incidences where educators are told to maximize time and use up every minute of it but if we are able to achieve the same results within less time, that's something to be celebrated as well. Anyway, back to summer classes. Don't get me wrong, summer classes can also be a bummer because it takes you away from your precious vacation, but at least we only sacrifice one month and one summer to the program. So to recap, summer classes are preferred because I feel like I learned the gist of what needed to be learned in less time than regular courses, but summer vacation should be at least 3 months. Too bad we're starting school on time this year.