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Summer Rant

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Summer Rant

It isn't something that I can put a finger too, but I wonder if I am alone when I say that this half of the summer semester has been quite a, how should I put it, load of shit? This is how summer semesters are always like, and the same reason why I loathe it so much, from the bottom of my heart and the marrows of my bones. It wasn't always this way though, because people from my school would testify and tell you that summer semester used to be fun. We started off our college life with the summer semester, and things were all nice and well back then weren't they. I mean, we had the fun music lessons in school and the fun english lecturer that I got along with quite well. Everything worked out nicely even if we had to wake up at seven in the morning to attend a class. Those were the days when I actually looked forward to attending the classes at school, which is something that I haven't felt before in my entire life in education. I looked forward to school, and I suppose the first semester really was what solidify this period of time as one of the best times of my life. It was the time when politics did not exist amongst people, and you could pick out random people from a crowd and have them go out without problems at all. You can't do that now, and the semesters suck like dirty socks blended with rotten potatoes. It's quite bad, I tell you, and we are all feeling the punch.

Though, I must admit, the first semester was probably fun because we had a little bit more time to complete what we were supposed to complete. We had to start school a couple of weeks earlier than normal students, and we had the full semester to finish four modules. Now, we have to finish two modules in five to six weeks, with everything squeezed and crammed up together into this giant academic orgy. Just to picture a quiz paper bursting through the doors into a room full of naked assignments and projects. They are all having sex by sliding over one another and the ruffling the papers up into crumpled balls. Sooner or later, the final exams join in, and then the entire room is full of papers that are making out and having hot wet sex. Try to imagine yourself as a janitor now, having to clean up the mess afterwards. I'm sure you have tried to clean up a pile of wet paper before, and it isn't the most fun thing to do in the world. Anyway, that is how summer semesters are for the most part, a giant orgy party of assignments and exams, and they really do take a toll on all of us, considering how little time we have for them all. The summer semester is merciless, and it gives you no time to catch a breather as well, and it is made worse that we have this half-half system in place.

I am not going to get into the details of that, because most of the readers here probably already know that very well. It is a lousy system, and we all hate it immensely and passionately. Initially, the idea of having a sped up college sounded like a good idea. It felt like it was OK for us to sacrifice the holidays in between, and to come to school while students from local universities are having their summer holidays. It felt OK, because school was fun even when there were papers, and we were actually enthusiastic about those. I mean, for music classes, we go to school at nine in the morning to bang on tables - literally. We came to school in those days to have fun, and even the projects were full of fun. The quizzes were still a downer, but I remember staying up at night just to get through my music classes - imagine that. When we were not pounding our palms on the tables, we were drawing notes on song sheets and filming videos down the hallways. Those were the truly good times, and the summer semester back then actually felt really fun - whatever happened to those?

We are now left with the sludge of summers past. We are left with the slime of whatever that left, this giant blob of filth. I hate summer semesters right now, and most people should hate it just the same, or even more. The truth is that when you have lecturers coming in during the summer semester and trying to achieve the impossible, you have a problem. Summer semesters were never meant to be actual full-time semesters, and adding more lessons every week just to make up for time doesn't make it so either. The school administration seems to think that if you add more classes to a week during the summer semester to make up for the shortened semester, then it'd all be OK and the students would be able to deal with it just the same. The truth is, with all the classes packed together, there is a significant diminishing marginal returns occurring. Suddenly, you have a bunch of students trying to study for something and nothing being retained in their heads. At least the first two lecturers knew what they were doing and what they were not going to do. It's a summer semester! You should know your limits. They knew what they could accomplish, and as a result adjusted their course timetable to it. I hate that this other lecturer we have no seems to think that you can finish twelve chapters in five weeks and expect us to learn something.

I don't feel like I am getting anything out of the summer semester, you know, or at least this half of it anyway. You don't feel like you learn anything when you are being rushed to finish something all the time. When your lecturer attempts to go through three chapters in one lesson, you know that you are better off studying them on your own and at your own pace. I don't know if this is due to burn out or not, but I definitely feel a heightened sense of inertia this time around, more than the others. Every once in a while, we all fall into a kind of slump, and you feel like you cannot possibly go on the semester without tripping all over yourself. But on a normal semester, you get the motivation and drive back because you have the time to recompose yourself. You don't get that with summer semester, and I really dislike that right now. It's not that I hate the idea of schooling during the summer, because I do like it quite a bit. I don't mind that I am schooling while some of my peers are having summer holidays overseas. The truth is, though, the way the classes have been structured is really making the summer semesters NOT worthwhile at all. As much as someone like Joyce missed out on a lot of things at school, I suppose she made a right choice by staying out of it this time around.

If I have a choice though, I'd probably just take maybe one or two light modules during the summer. I mean, I think that'd be the perfect arrangement, with enough time to relax and, at the same time, not letting you rot at home for three months straight. I like that idea, but the school does not wholly agree. It becomes really tiring after some time, and you feel like giving in during the last leg of this race. I, like many others, are already feeling the punch of the summer semester, and the same happened last year as well. I'm not sure why the school administration find it necessary to put the students through this, but I personally dislike it quite a bit. At any rate, I suppose this is the last stretch, and I might as well finish it even if I have to crawl to the finish line. The scenario seems rather likely at this point, though I cannot care less anymore. I just want this to be over, just so that the next episode of my life could begin and carry on somehow.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 11:00 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.

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