My friends and I decided to take an intersession class this May, and taking a chemistry course in two weeks has turned out to be nothing like taking it over a semester. Here are just a few of the differences I have noticed.
1. Class is really long.
Tuesday/Thursday classes will feel like a breeze from now on. Class is pretty much an all-day endeavor: lectures from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then on to lab. If you are anything like me and my friends, you come in prepared: coffee, snacks, blankets, and water bottles.
2. Classes are tiny.
Our class only has about 15 people, and I actually kind of like that better. We have more time to ask questions, and you can take advantage of the extra space and spread out.
3. Lunch = angels' singing.
Reason number one: food. Reason number two: a break from lectures.
4. You have one job.
No meetings, no activities, and no other classes. All your effort is focused on one class. In many ways, it's nice: one subject to learn and one test to study for. At the same time, you don't want to get your grade back and feel like the unfortunate person who painted this.
5. Campus is yours.
Campus is basically deserted, and it takes about two seconds to feel like you own the place.
6. Your sense of time is horribly damaged.
The days are both very long and very short. You cover over a week of information in a few hours, but after class, time flies. You take a midterm after a week and a final after two.
7. All your old study techniques go out the window.
You learn half a semester's worth of information in one week. You cover new material up to the day before the midterm and before the final. At the same time, everything is fresh in your memory, and you haven't had much else to think about in the past few days. One thing is sure; all your old studying techniques go out the window.
