Summer, like any other break, is what you make it. Some people take long, lavish trips to beaches with white sands. Others use their three month break just to catch up on some well-deserved sleep. Others go see Marvel's Avengers once or thrice. Some even get an internship or job. But, if you’re not doing any of these, the next option for your summer may include summer courses.
For you overachievers, summer is your opportunity to make sure that you are staying afloat and a few steps ahead of the game come next fall. For you slackers, the summer is the time for you to catch up on work you didn’t do, slept through or even a combination of both. Taking summer courses has now become your punishment for not pushing yourself to stay on track with work. But don’t worry. There are some advantages to taking summer classes.
If classes have been extremely difficult over this past semester, if you had a course overload, or if you just want to learn something new, taking summer classes can catch you up, be much easier to understand and can keep you ahead. Let’s find out how.
Play Catch-Up
Okay, clearly if you’re taking summer classes as a result of doing poorly over the course of the semester, you’re going to need to get back up to speed in your classes. The deeper you are into your major, the more butt you have to kick in your classes as to stay on pace. Be sure to use this time to make up for your academic negligence.
Easy-Peasy
Sometimes sitting in a larger classroom setting is distracting and impersonal. More one-on-one attention, especially in harder subjects, makes things a lot simpler to comprehend. In summer classes, you may not have to worry about 95-100 other students in your class vying for your professor’s attention. This also means that answers to your questions will come at a faster rate and with more detail. Professors can use summer courses as a time to be more thorough and more approachable since they’re not teaching as many classes. Use this to your advantage! Pay attention. Ask questions. Don’t waste this opportunity to be up close and personal with your teacher in the most PG way possible.
Stay Ahead of the Game
This point is more for overachievers. That’s right, those of you that take at least two or three summer classes over the summer and no less than 18 credits per semester. Keep doing what you do best: making everyone else feel terribly, terribly unprepared.
There has never been anything wrong with staying five steps ahead of what’s expected of you. In fact, sometimes being over-prepared can be a great thing. You’ll cover what’s in the curriculum, anything extra and you’re more than likely to be less stressed. This will put you in a great mindset and even better academic shape for the fall. Keep up the great work but also make sure you take time for yourself outside of school. Summer is a time of rest. Take heed to this.
All in all, there’s nothing wrong with taking summer courses. It can actually be fun, if you make it that way for yourself. Take advantage of your resources and use this time to re-evaluate your time management methods, study skills, and habits. You wouldn’t want to keep taking the same classes next summer too, would you?
(Photo at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragan-milcevski/4674840428/)
