By Sophie Isbister (Opinion Editor) – Email
Summer is coming, and with it, images of days on the beach and warm nights are dancing in the heads of stressed and burned-out students all over the world. But what about the few of us that choose to stay on UFV’s beautiful campuses from May to August? Why do we choose to spend idyllic days poring over musty books and crooked PDFs, and more importantly, why should more students make the same choice?
The answers range from the mundane to marvellous. English student Karen Aney says summer semester is great because, “You can actually find parking, and it gives my liver a break.” English student Miriam Huxley says that she likes the smaller class sizes that an emptier campus brings, adding: “I think summer semesters also give you the opportunity to get to know your instructors better.”
There are definite advantages to smaller class sizes, as well as the dedicated nature of the students that choose to show up. People go to summer semester because they want to be there. There is also something to be said for constant studying; pushing through and dedicating yourself to your studies throughout the summer gives students a more realistic view of the workforce that they will enter once they leave school. As former business student Dave Walls says, “If someone can’t handle four years of studying a field without the need for multi-month breaks, they are ill-equipped to begin a career in said field.”
While it is nice to take advantage of a four-month break in classes to pursue internships or travel, not all students have that opportunity. Speaking from personal experience as an economically-challenged student, taking four months off makes no financial sense. Unless there was an abundance of well-paying jobs growing on trees, it would be difficult to survive without the student loans I rely on to pay my rent and bills. Even if I did find gainful employment in the summertime, it would be near-impossible to juggle a full-time job with the two part-time jobs that I have on campus.
According to a February 2011 Statistics Canada report, youth employment has risen 1.1% in the last 12 months. However, youth unemployment is still at a 30-year high, and this doesn’t even include statistics on under-employment. This phenomena is not unique to Canada; youth around the world continue to be disproportionately unemployed. It is well documented that this is a reason for the spike in university enrolment, an issue that has been hotly discussed at UFV. Given the dismal climate of jobs for youth, especially on a short-term, summer basis, it just makes sense to take classes in the summertime.
There are lots of reasons to take a summer semester at UFV. For one thing, the campus is beautiful. Classes are more intimate; the people are dedicated; and waitlists are shorter. Sticking with your studies encourages good habits that will carry into the fall semester. As well, taking summer classes can allow students the luxury of only taking three classes per semester, and still finishing their degree in four years.
We’re not in high school anymore, UFV. The more people who sign up for a summer of education, the more classes will be offered, and the more we can, as students, dedicate ourselves to improving student life on campus all year round, not just when it’s rainy and miserable.
