Summer school provides the 'best educational buy' The first t ime I ever saw the Harding campus was on a hot day in July of last summer. A few minutes in the sun would have made a person feel faint. It was a relief to come in out of the heat into the ai r-conditioned lounge of Stephens Hall. As I reca ll my impressions of Harding that day, I remember most the beauty of the campus, the splendor of the New Gymnasium and the general friendliness of the people that I met . I will never forget what one of them told me . My mother and I were staying in the adjoin ing room to hers in the su ite. She was a fri endly sophomore attending one of the summer sessions and was anxious to answer any of our questions. "Don't form your impression of Harding now," she told us, "no one is here now. The place is dead." I thought at the time it was paradoxical , even a little humorous , since I was transferring from a much smaller junior college whi ch, in its regular sessions, claimed on ly as many students as Harding had on its campus in that one summer session. I understood better what she meant when the fall semester began with its many activities. One of the important lessons I have learned as a college student is to hear the story out. We, as college students (or as human beings). have the funny habit of magnifying a bad point into monstrous proportions, while taking the good for granted. Therefore, when I began to research the summer sessions, I looked for those hidden good poi nts . What made over 700 students spend part or all of their 30 • Summer School summer in the hot Arkansas climate in classes, away from home I To answer that question, I interviewed Dr. James Carr , Director of Summer Sessions. " It' s the best educational buy," he stressed. "A student who attends the 2'1z-week intersession and the two 5week summer sessions may accumulate academic credit equivalent to that of one semester. He saves both time and money. Since he is condensing 17 weeks of academic work . into a period of about 12V, weeks , he saves on food and housing costs ." "It works almost like the trimester system." Intersession was a new addition to last summer's program of studies. In thirteen class days a student was able to acqu ire up to four hours of credit. Beginning immediately after the close of Spring Semester in May, a student attend ing intersession was able to be out of school and entering the job market back home by June 1, before many other co ll eges had dismissed for summer vacation. The new intersession , along with the summer sess ions, a lso allowed students to gain a full semester's credit in one summer, work ing "almost like the trimester system." "We had such a fine response from both the students and the staff for the initial program that we decided to repeat it," said Dr. Carr. "A total of 143 students attended·classes last year and a projected 200 will enroll this year." Dr. Carr also pointed out that the summer sessions were ideal for taking "exploratory courses" in areas of interest, especially by those who were unsure about their majors. Another added advantage is one about which students may not be aware. While there was not as much to do, the grades of those attending summer sessions were normally better than the grades they made during the regular semesters. Dr. Carr felt this was due to reduced distractions . While the acti vities on campus were not completely e liminated , the activities did not re<1!U ire planning by the students, . only their participation . Therefore, students had more ti me to study. There were no club functions , which require so much time durin g the regular semester; however, many social activities were planned for the summer. Opening with a Camaraderie to get everyone acquainted, there were 5
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