Summer and classes are two words that many college students do not want to hear put together. However, for the few of us in summer classes, four-week classes seem like a great idea; they are quick and the student has the rest of the summer off.

Unfortunately, four-week classes are not as great as they seem. There is not much time, which can be good for some, but the fast-paced learning is not for all.

When signing up for a four-week class, I did not take into account just how quickly the class would be moving. I was not fully prepared with what I was getting into.

Two days into the class I was already lost. I knew it was accelerated learning, but I was not expecting to be doing two chapters of macroeconomics each day in each two-hour class period.

It does not help that I have a job either. I have been in college for two years and have previously had two jobs at the same time. When arriving at Eastern I thought I was fully prepared and could handle the amount of work that I would be receiving.

However, the four-week class is moving so quickly that I can hardly keep up in class, let alone trying to study that many chapters after work.

Also, along with every other college student, I have a social life. There are many things that I have going on outside of school that is occupying parts of my mind. For a four-week class, focus is the key and I seem to be locked out.

Another problem is that the class is two hours long. After the first hour, my mind wanders and I lose what the professor is teaching the class.

Moving that quickly while thinking about my job and social life, and dozing off mid-class makes for a bad experience with four-week classes.

Craig Eckert, professor of sociology, said that as a teacher he feels rushed.

“I find it difficult to compact information from a 15 week class into four weeks,” said Eckert.

Even with feeling rushed, Eckert likes the smaller class sizes, and feels that attendance is better and there is more participation in four-week classes.

There are, however, some students who enjoy the four-week classes. Fast-paced classes that leave time for other activities after intersession are a sound idea for some college students.

Without time to procrastinate students get work done quickly, remember the material for the test that week, and do not have to worry about thinking back to six weeks earlier for the content of a mid-term or final.

Mike Tozer, a counselor at Eastern, said the counselors are “not seeing anything out of the ordinary (in) any semester regarding case work or the amount of stress on students.”

Along with Tozer, Eckert does not feel that the students are rushed because teachers must cut information out of the lessons instead of hurrying the students.

Eckert said he feels bad for students who are in more than one four-week class, but as a professor he feels it is “enjoyable to get to know the students” in the shorter class sessions.

Ashlei Maltman is a junior Journalism major. She can be reached at 581-7942, or at [email protected].