Remember the days when summer signified three months of wonderful nothingness? School was over until August or September, and the warm days stretched on endlessly in front of us, promising way too much relaxation and a whole lot of free time. Alas, by the time we get to college, summers just aren’t the same. The three months become filled with internships, volunteer work, paying jobs and anything else that could be substantially useful to our resumes. So this begs the question: Why add a summer class to that lineup and remove any of the lingering signs of summer? In case you’re weighing your options for next summer (or are just wondering), we’ve come up with some pros and cons:
Pro: The class sizes are usually smaller.While the classes at Berkeley are usually pretty large — typically ranging from about 100 to 600 people, the summer classes are made to accommodate fewer people. Most classes have less than 100 people, and only the basic classes, such as Chem 1A, still fall within a few hundred. The smaller group of students can allow for more engaging discussions that involve the whole class and don’t just consist of a professor orating from the front of a lecture hall. It also means that it is significantly easier to get to know the professor and establish an academic relationship with them.
Con: It can take away that summer feeling. Adding a summer class to your repertoire can stifle even the smallest glint of summertime. Having to attend class in our months off — even if it’s just two or three days a week for a few hours — can make the school year seem never-ending and take away our one time to let our brains take a breather. Summer days don’t seem so carefree when you’re aware that you’ll have to cut activity time short so that you can get to English by 2 p.m.
Pro: It’s a productive use of your time. Just taking one class can serve to lighten the next semester’s course load or remove some of the concerns about graduating on time. It’s commonly used to help complete the requirements of a supplemental minor. It can be especially useful when the prospects of an internship or job are slim and you don’t want to go home to loaf around for three months. Taking a class can be added to a resume just like work experience can.
Con: It can be pretty pricey. Just because it’s summer doesn’t mean that tuition is any less ridiculous. Just taking one class runs typically upwards of $1,000 — not including the cost of living and eating in Berkeley for the summer.
Pro: It can allow for some intellectual exploration. While during the regular school year, most of us are entirely focused on remaining on our intended paths, the summer allows for some freedom in class choice. It seems our duty as students of a fantastic university to branch outside of our comfort zones and explore the multitude of classes offered to us — and the summer is the perfect time to seize that opportunity.
Whether you’re looking at a class out of necessity or just out of interest to fill one of your summers spent here, the classes can be quite rewarding. It can be used as a time for growth as an intellectual and for the creation useful academic relationships. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be a death sentence for your fun in the sun, if you can manage your time correctly.
Image Source: Ken Colwell under Creative Commons
Contact Mackenzie Bedford at mbedford@dailycal.org.
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