After all the work students put into their classes during the fall and spring, all anyone wants is for summer to come. Spending time with friends, renting beach houses, staying up all night and having the time of your life is what everyone wants for summer vacation. It’s a time most people want to relax and forget about what they did all year at school until they have to do it all over again a few months later.
What many students don’t realize, though, is that summer can be a time to get things done too. Not many people would admit that they want to do them, but summer classes can be a great way to get ahead with school and lessen the workload during the semester when you have a million other things to do.
Not only does it make your fall and spring semesters less crammed, but it also helps you stay on track and absorb information so you can easily slide into your school groove. Keeping your mind working can help with learning and remembering new information since you don’t have to go from doing nothing all summer, to cramming for classes last minute hoping you remember everything your teacher said during the first couple lectures. Keeping with a schedule during the summer can help ease you into the amount of work you will get when you come back from break.
There are a lot of misconceptions you get related to summer classes also. One being that if you take a class online, the teacher is never available since if you are away, you cannot meet with them face-to-face. This is very untrue. Online teachers usually offer phone numbers where they can be reached if you have any questions and are generally pretty great with getting responses back via e-mail that you might have on any assignment or topic. Most also allow and encourage you to send in assignments early so that any errors or questions can be answered and fixed so you do well on them.
Many students also think that if they have never taken an online class before, that they will be confused on when assignments or discussion posts are due and will miss deadlines. However this is not the case because teachers send out a syllabus and calendar regarding all deadlines for assignments due in the class.
Most online summer classes run for about 6 weeks. Summer classes offered in the classroom are also very helpful and can range from 3 to 6 weeks.
Some departments such as the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences also offer experiential learning courses, where you travel to different parts of the United States and learn about the Culture of the area. These range in dates and cost but can be very helpful for your major if they apply to you and are something different than just your everyday class lecture.
So whether you want to get ahead or do something different over the summer, taking classes might be a good idea for you. You can sign up for summer classes at West Virginia University today and start learning in just a few weeks. To find out more about summer classes at WVU you can visit http://summer.wvu.edu/ or talk to your advisor.
From Summer at WVU website, students visiting Jackson Hole Wyoming. Photo taken by instructor Michael Sherwin.