Cinco de Mayo today... and the last day of finals week for UT. Tomorrow is the big graduation day for many families, and many students have already moved back home for summer jobs.Just when the weather started to turn nice.
Welcome to the Semester System.
Back around 1998 the University of Toledo converted from the Quarter System to the current semester System. Rather than have three 10-week terms, Fall, Winter, and Spring (and Summer if ya watned) during the academic year, now there are 2 15-week terms, Fall and Spring (yeah yeah yeah summer too).
But here's the big difference: under the semester term, classes start around Labor Day and End in early May. In the quarter system, classes started around the middle of September and ended in the middle of June.
That's right, the middle of June. Sure, that meant everyone else has a head-start on you for summer employment (missed many a summer-opportunity because of this), but it also meant:
warm days on centennial mall
hanging out at the Old West End festival with your college buddies
walking to class through a blizzard of cottonwood snow along the Ottawa river.
Frisbee, outdoor events on a warm day, lounging in shorts & sandals while student government hopefuls went about their busy-ness in hot Oxford shirts, slacks, and ties.
Outdoor classes out under a shade tree
outdoor lab exercises collecting measurements of the campus
sneaking onto the roof of the Student Union to enjoy a day of sun.
...I'm a year-round UT employee now, so I still get to experience the season on campus. Just wish everyone else still did.
Posts
2 comments:
I prefered the quarter system too. You could take more classes and sample more of what the university had to offer. Some semester-long classes are just too long.
Hmmm. I've never appreciated wam May days on campus as much as warm days out in the woods or in my garden, Then again, crisp October mornings on campus seem like a waste too (one thing I do love about UT is the fall break). Although I've never worked or studied on the quarter system, I think I wouldn't like it as much as going by semesters. But I will agree with Matt that 15 wks. is a bit too long for some classes.
Post a Comment