The start of spring semester is always really quite hectic. In my opinion, it is more hectic than midterms or finals week. I suppose this is because it takes me about three weeks to develop a workable routine for the semester—something efficient enough for me to get all of my homework done, but flexible enough to allow for some breaks and fun, too. Or maybe this is because the semester comes right after Jan Plan, which is comparably not very hectic. I also don’t know exactly what is expected of me yet, so I feel compelled to go academic overboard on each assignment.
My three semesters at Colby thus far have also shown me that while spring semester is shorter than fall semester (how much shorter, I don’t know; I just heard this tidbit of info from a friend), it is also more demanding, scheduling-wise. For example, for both of the fall semesters that I have been here, I have had class only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have found that this schedule remarkably suits me and my preferred method of completing academic work and managing my non-academic responsibilities; it allows me to spend about an entire day doing work for each of my four classes, and also spend a reasonable amount of time doing other things. However, for the first time in my career as a college student, I currently have class five days per week. I am anticipating that this will be challenging; instead of being able to allocate entire days to specific classes and activities, I must now manage a rather fragmented schedule. And while I am taking the same amount of credit hours and participating in the same extracurricular activities as I did in the fall, I feel as if I presently have a lot more work and many more responsibilities on my plate. It almost feels like high school all over again, except with a lot more reading and no busywork.
I must admit, though, that I don’t mind going to class every weekday. I enjoy my classes and professors, even though I am always nostalgic at the start of spring semester for the courses that I took in the fall, just because they are, at this moment, more familiar to me. But I welcome what awaits me with my unfamiliar new schedule, and I surmise that next fall, I will feel nostalgic for the classes and routines which I am in the process of formulating right now.
