Third Week Blues

After our class yesterday morning, I suddenly remembered that we were in the third week of the semester. For some reason, right about week three, college stops being fun. We all suddenly realize that this is not a sprint but a marathon. The work starts; initial quizzes and grades are in. . .in short, college stops being summer camp and becomes what it is: educational work. Several students yesterday expressed a little frustration with assignments, readings, and responses, even though the work load so far has been minimal. The contrast, however, between high school requests and college requests are often significant. Students come out of a situation where reading is often done "in class," where written assignments could be dashed off right before the morning bell rings, and where lapses in work were overlooked or excused. Suddenly the academic rules have changed. Readings not only must be completed, they must be understood and retained. Quizzes count. Absences do, too. Missed work is missed. There are consequences.

At the same time, students are faced for the first time with handling their own time schedules. Late night dorm sessions, noise, the great fall weather, athletic practices, pizza runs, all begin to infringe on study and work time. This is a time for socialization as well as education and finding the balance between friendship and classes can be difficult.

Teachers feel the same third week blues. Many of the faculty I have talked with this week have talked about the fatigue, the work load, the sudden stress with students. Faculty, too, especially in the fall semester, are adjusting to the change in the schedule that they had enjoyed most of the summer.

So we are in a transition time. Soon the schedules will seem more natural. The work loads and assignments will take on a certain rhythm. And we will start to pace out the semester: a few weeks until Fall Break, this assignment done before Thanksgiving, finishing up in early December--and the fall semester will be history! Runners talk about facing "the wall." That refers to that spot in a run where the body just wants to quit. Pushing through that "wall" mentally becomes a major goal for every runner. We can push through the third week wall as well. Much waits for us on the other side.