The summer semester at St. Lawrence was something completely new to the school and its students. Only about 600 of them were on campus for the ten-week semester. The university had never done something like this before and the transition for the students from summer to fall has not been a normal one. Their shortened summer break was only six weeks long.
Brianna Lawlor a junior at St. Lawrence felt that she did not have enough time at home. “I was working over break, it would have been nice to have an extra month,” she said.
Coming back to campus after only six weeks at home wasn’t the only problem for Lawlor. “In the summer we would have class for three hours,” she said. Coming back now the one and one and a half hour classes allow her to learn better.
Lawlor went on to add that she had felt like the school “Should not have done the summer semester.” She felt like the class structure of the summer hindered her learning because of the longer classes.
The social aspect in the summer was also different from the fall. “There was less covid restrictions because there were less people on campus,” Lawlor said. “People would go out four or more days a week” she added.
Lawlor felt that people would go out more “to make the experience more enjoyable of going to school in the summer.” She also though people would go out more because so much schoolwork could stress people out.
The transaction into a new fall semester was not normal for Lawlor. The summer was very different, and she is glad to be back in a normal semester.
Chase Malatesta also had similar feelings coming back to school in the fall. “I felt like I did not get much of a break,” he said. “Summer is a time for me to relax and be with my family.”
Malatesta also felt that it is easier to learn in the fall than the summer. “I think classes could have been made shorter,” he said. The online and hybrid nature of the classes in the summer also made it hard on him. He added “I cannot focus when classes are hybrid or online.”
Malatesta also talked about the social aspect of the summer being different than the fall. “In the summer there were no organized parties, and the school also held no events,” he said. He added that people were going out all the time. “I think it was the summer and I felt like I should treat it like that,” he said. “It was nice out and I wanted to be outside.”
The transition from summer to fall was very hard for many students. The culture of the two semesters is different and for that reason it has made it hard on students to transition.