Pointlife
Spring semester: School back so soon?
The Pointer
nmeye177@uwsp.edu
Students at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point returned to a snow-covered campus on Tuesday, some looking ready and willing to get back into the swing of college life, others not as invigorated. But school is back in session, a new semester with new classes and new challenges sure to come.
The University Bookstore has been busy the last two days providing the required educational materials. Students have been buzzing from building to building bearing the cold to find their new sanctuaries of learning. But does the new semester, just a short month after the last, provide refreshment or the daunting promise of a lot of work?
“Not really,” said Sean Smalley, a senior. “It’s just another semester.”
Maybe to some the new semester isn’t a promise of a better semester, just another one to get through before putting on the graduation cap and saying goodbye. To others with the experience of another fall semester under their academic belt, still fresh in their mind is a promising mindset for another new start.
“Maybe you do alright [last semester] but not as good as you wanted to,” said sophomore Cody White, “so it’s a fresh start.”
For some the mindset may be different, but their routine stays the same. For others it’s a time to make changes, to streamline the routine and incorporate some things into their lives they have struggled to in the past.
“I’m going to work out some more, try to keep a balance with the physical health cause that has slipped a bit,” said White. “So I’m going to try to work that in my schedule. With that, that will help me organize everything else.”
The differences between the fall and spring semesters aren’t many in number, but they certainly are there. The weather starts to get better, rather than considerably worse. Students are brought back after only a month compared to three months in the summer and the promise of a break where holiday obligations aren’t binding them to home definitely gives students new things to look forward to. But the jury is still out on whether winter break is too long or too short.
“I guess, neither; its good,” said White. “Yeah, it’s long if you’re sitting around doing nothing, but it’s too short if you’re working and trying to make money for school.”
Many students seem to simply find comfort in the fact that it’s a new semester and whatever past mishaps have occurred are in the past. For some who are experiencing spring semester for the first time, it’s a chance to breathe and realize, yes, you can do this.
“I was worried about course load last semester,” said freshman Matt Lucas. “But now that I know I can do it, I’m not worried about it at all. It’s nice feeling reassured the credit load isn’t going to kill my life.”
It seems spring semester offers something for everyone. It offers a chance to improve, a chance to relax and simply a chance to just get one step closer to graduation. Whatever the mindset, the new semester is here, and there’s no turning back now.
