UCSB is home to the minority of academic structuring, the trimester. However, summer sessions are optional hence both terms, trimester and quarter system, are used interchangeably. UCSB students begin fall classes during the first week of October and end their spring classes mid-June. Most universities are on a semester system beginning in August and ending in May. For us who fall under the trimester system, we all know the struggle is real.

The actual difference between when we start class and end class creates many problems. For one, Fall quarter begins over a month after semester colleges do. Our summers do not align with most of our friends back home. Semester students are posting on Facebook complaining about midterms, simultaneously killing our summer vibe. But the reverse is worse when we are in our last month of torture and those same friends are posting pictures of their summer adventures. And worst of all, we miss out of being part of the picture. So far, I have been invited to my best friend’s graduation, an all-paid for cruise with friends, and many other events that I have not been able to attend to because UCSB is on the quarter system.

We have different weeks of breaks as well as shorter breaks. Specifically winter break is always shorter. Depending on final schedules, some UCSB students get a longer break than others, but we all get shorter breaks than semester college students. Don’t even get me started about those CC kids. St. Patrick’s Day falls during winter finals’ week, which also happens to be my birthday. The one holiday practically designed for college students, is filled with textbooks and lecture slides instead of green beer and people pinching one another starting bar brawls. So, shout out to everyone who will or has turned 21 during finals and couldn’t celebrate on their actual birthday.

We also have three terms, which accounts to three sets of midterms and finals per year instead of two. This system is characterized by many differences. First, classes are super condensed. It can be a good thing when you are in a class that disinterests you or a class with a monotone professor. However, the majority of the time it is just a heavy course load with a narrow time frame between assignments, midterms, and finals. Second, we have to fight for classes even harder than semester students considering the additional term. We have to register for classes three times a year limiting the number of classes offered. This is a huge issue especially for upper division courses. I have been forced to enroll in unwanted classes just to be able to graduate on time. And lastly, trimester students have less time to build relationships with their professors. Between packed schedules and the vast majority of curriculum available online, we are stuck in a system that promotes a lack of communication between professor and student.