The definition for summer school is as follows: “courses held during school summer vacations taken for remedial purposes, as part of an academic program, or for professional or personal purposes.”
Of course, in college, summer classes are usually taken as a means of getting ahead.
“I think it’s a good opportunity to get ahead and if you want to take classes and you weren’t going anywhere over the summer, it’d be good to get some of your GE classes done,” said Natalie Jamero, a Delta student.
Now if you’re anything like me, you like to plan to do a lot of things during the summer and then end up not doing more than half of those things.
Plan to take a hike on a trail?
Yeah let’s go! Not.
And unfortunately, if this summer is like my other summers, I probably won’t be doing much, save for maybe a couple days out of town.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my lazy days. But at this point in my education, I should probably get off my butt and get some work done.
Cody Cruz, a Delta student, agrees “In high school and below, summer school had a negative connotation but now it’s kinda turned around. I think it’s a matter of perspective and how serious you want to take your education.”
So I had a plan, try to get a degree and then transfer to Sacramento State. The classes needed for the degree were right in my hands. I just needed to take the right amount of units per semester.
‘Must achieve a C or better,’ the paper had said.
But what if I wasn’t doing so well in one of my classes?
Summer classes are a good opportunity to make up for that class. I wouldn’t have to worry about retaking it during the fall and spring semesters, I would have room for more classes.
Hans Hauselmann, a history professor on campus, spoke “It’s a great opportunity for students to pick up extra units during the semester and get ahead. It keeps me busy as well. I’ve been teaching four years and I’ve taught every summer. It allows students to really succeed and get the stuff they really want to get into their schedules, so they can graduate on time.”
“Opportunity” is a thing I hear a lot when I hear people talk about summer classes. But that’s because summer school’s exactly that, an opportunity.
Everyone wants to graduate, so why not take some units during the summer?
But of course, with advantages, there’s always disadvantages. The biggest one, in my opinion, is the amount of work you have to do in such a short time. Summer classes last about six weeks and a professor has to cram a full semester curriculum into those six weeks.
My friend explained that summer school is fast paced and you have to be able to keep up. With a smaller class period, you would think the curriculum would be smaller too.
The amount of information that the students are required to learn in such a short period is actually terrifying.
Not to mention that online classes state that you’ll be required to work about 8 and a half hours per week.
Save me.
Could I handle that?
I’ll have to try.
Bring it on, summer school.