Last week it was 80 degrees, but now the fall weather is creeping in and its getting cooler. Most people step back on campus at the beginning of the year still freshly tanned from the summer, ready for tailgates and happy hour to start out- you can’t wait to see all the friends who’ve been at home for the past three months.
But when school revs back up in the Fall many students find it pretty hard to juggle the excitement of a new school year and the stress of a new workload. Especially at the beginning of the semester with the summer weather still hanging on, some students find it difficult to transition back into school mode after such a long break.
“Fall is harder because you’re still in summer mode and you’re not really ready to start studying yet,” junior psychology major Rachel Ostrow said. “You’re excited to be back after such a long break and just want to have fun with all of your friends.”
Many students go out more at the beginning of the semester, with endless fraternity parties and the infamous “syllabus week” giving students a lighter workload at first. Though there are more parties in the Fall at the beginning of the semester, the syllabus week lurch remains the same both in Fall and Spring, junior business major Nicole Cors said.
“Syllabus week is hard to recover from,” Cors said. “It’s hard to catch up and get a jump on work in the semester.”
However, Cors believes that the Fall semester is generally just harder academically, especially with all of the activities.
“I think Fall is a harder workload because there’s a lot more going on in the Fall like football games and all the holidays so people can get distracted easily,” Cors said. “I also just take harder classes in the Fall to get them over with.”
Though some agree that Fall semester’s increased social activities, holidays and weather make it more difficult to concentrate on school work, other students believe that Spring semester is more difficult.
While Fall semester is more difficult at the beginning, Spring semester becomes harder school-wise as the semester goes on, junior Chris Carey said.
“School is harder in the spring because the weather starts to get nice and nobody likes to do work because there are more social events,” Carey said.
While some students disagree on which semester holds a harder workload, others agree that the summer weather and a three-month long break make it harder to concentrate on classes. Whether students are looking forward to summer or getting over it, both Fall and Spring classes can be difficult for students.