Anis Vijay Modi
Staff Writer
Photo by Shoshana Cohen
This year, University of California, Santa Barbara is offering a wide variety of options for those of us who want to get some extra credits in during the summer. That time of the year the campus is little more silent than it is during regular school days, and Isla Vista will also be slightly relieved of the impacted residence of college students. At the same time, UCSB will be offering seven different summer session options for students to choose from. But is summer session worth it?
Taking on a regular coarse load throughout the regular three-quarter school year is more than enough for a lot of us. In this quarter system, it seems that homework, midterms, and finals are always around the corner. The summer vacation is usually our time to relax, in any way we might want to. Traveling with the family, hanging out with friends or even working during the time off from school all provide students with experience that are different from their year-long crawl through the obstacles of academic life.
Summer means sleeping in, staying up late, and lounging around for no particular reason. The days blur together, and you forget what day it is—but it doesn’t really matter anyways. It’s freedom. Whether you’re working or traveling, you still are free from the bonds of schoolwork for at least three months. So why give up that feeling?
UCSB summer session classes can fill a variety of needs. Some students can use this extra bit of time to catch up on requirements or replace some of their worse grades. Others can make sure that they graduate on time, or even draw their graduation term closer by a quarter or two. With the infamous shortage of classes here at UCSB, summer sessions can also help students take classes that are normally jam packed with ease. As the amount of students is growing and the number of classes only shrinking, summer session classes can be a viable alternative for many of us who feel like they are competing for a spot in some of their classes. And for some, the price of summer session classes is a break from the regular tuition we pay during the official school year.
The number of different sessions UCSB has to offer, according to a website specifically designated for summer session offerings, provides ample flexibility for students who want to combine both schoolwork and fun during the summer break. I have signed up for the first session of summer school in order to take advantage of the offered classes and graduate a little earlier than I had planned.
For those of us who think of summer as an opportunity to forget how to take notes and party for three straight months, summer school would probably not be a good idea. After all, the sessions, which run for more than a month at a time, could get a bit discouraging. Classes are almost every day and move at a slightly faster pace, depending on the session you are taking. It’s a slight change from having only some lectures twice or three times a week, to every day of the week.
But hey—the beauty of summer sessions is that if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. It is merely one of the many option UCSB offers students, and if you find yourself needing credits, wanting to graduate early or perhaps experience smaller class sizes, perhaps summer sessions are worth a shot. Regardless, who wouldn’t want to be studying in the ridiculously beautiful place UCSB students call home?