The summer is a good time to catch up on things we miss during the school year. During the summer I found myself catching up on my favorite TV shows or games. I even find myself starting new hobbies and projects to keep myself productive. There are some summers, though, that we may have to do some not-so-fun things to keep us productive, like for instance, taking summer classes. The prospect may be unsettling I’m sure, but they should really be considered.
The big question here isn’t should I take summer classes, but the question we should be asking is are they even worth it? One summer I decided that in order to keep up with my academics and my major at the time I would have to take a summer class. Extending the semester was not a happy thought to me, but it was something I had to do. Going in I thought class was going to be just as stressful and daunting as it is during the school year. I thought I would be staring at the those worksheets rethinking most of my life choices. I thought I would be so confused with the work and the professor would be hard to get in touch with.
Being on campus I was so used to the convenience of being around all the access we have to the books and our professors that I didn’t want to put myself in the position to be stuck. That was not the case. That summer I was just taking one class, a chemistry class, so it wasn’t a class I wanted to take per say, but it had to be done. I was super surprised when I was keeping up with the curriculum. The first week I was a little bit of a workaholic. I tried to do all my work at once so I can get back to enjoying my summer, but I found that it just stressed me out. So I just went with the flow of things and did the work as it came. I found that it was actually a pretty easy going experience. During the semester I was swamped with other classes and responsibilities. Not to mention the meetings with professors and clubs, but over the summer there is none of that. There is just me, my pajamas and laptop.
The crazy thing about the classes is I was actually learning the content! Now that may not be surprising for some, but it was really a shock for me because I was horrible at chemistry and I honestly didn’t think I was going to get anything out of the summer classes. I was clearly proven wrong. I learned more in my summer classes for chemistry than I did when I was taking the class during the semester. So if someone asked me is summer classes worth it? I would say yes. They are extremely beneficial because they are a more intimate kind of learning. There is time there to do the work and it is all at your pace and the distractions are cut down completely. If it’s possible I’d go for it.