At Cal Poly, academic life is structured around ten-week quarters that move faster than most students expect. That speed makes it easy to lose track of time—and sometimes, of understanding itself.
There is something disorienting about realizing I am already halfway through the quarter when it feels like classes just began. The first week arrives with fresh optimism: new notebooks, new routines and the quiet belief that this time will feel different. By week three, momentum takes hold. By week six, time starts moving by deadlines rather than days. And by week ten, the quarter is over, almost before I have had the chance to understand what I have learned. Â
The quarter system does not unfold so much as it accelerates. Everything moves with an urgency that is both motivating and exhausting. It rewards adaptability but rarely grants stillness. I meet a subject, grow curious, begin to understand it and then I am already moving on. There is little room for ideas to settle or deepen. Just as something starts to click, the next unit arrives. It is not a lack of interest or effort; it is the pace itself. Learning becomes streamlined and fleeting.Â
Still, the quarter system has taught me things I did not expect. It has taught me to adapt quickly, make decisions without overthinking, and to move forward even when I do not feel fully ready. I have learned this in moments where hesitation would normally have cost me time—submitting work that felt imperfect, showing up before I felt 100% prepared, and contributing to a discussion before I mapped out every single response. There is resilience in this, even if it is created under pressure.Â
Next year, Cal Poly will transition to the semester system. In theory, it offers more time—time to sit with ideas, to question them, to let learning unfold rather than rush past it. I find myself craving that slowness, that permission to think more intentionally without the constant pressure of the clock.
Still, I know the quarter system has shaped me in ways the semester system may never have. It has sharpened my focus, strengthened my adaptability and taught me how to move forward even when certainty feels out of reach.
What I carry with me, then, is not the exhaustion, but awareness—an understanding of how to slow down with intention, choose depth over speed and remember that learning is never meant to feel like something we are forced to do.