School of Thought: Falling back into school

By Natalie Serafini, Opinions Editor

The semester isn’t quite finished, and already we’re peering over the horizon to a new semester; the back to school-iest of semesters, signaled by browning leaves and Staples ads asserting that it’s “the most wonderful time of the year.” I’m heading into my last semester at Douglas College, which brings with it a sense of dread and anticipation. Anticipation, because I’ll be graduating and moving onto, well, more school in a different environment. Dread, because I’ll be hopping into the unknown and abandoning the familiar.

When you think about it, most people experience excitement and trepidation with the coming of a fresh semester: whether anticipation at a clean slate and new opportunities to improve their GPA, or dread at the thought of a new series of syllabi, filled with assignments, tests, and stress fuel. How did Douglas College students feel about the upcoming semester? Was there excitement, trepidation, or a combination of the two? And what goals would keep them on track in the fall months?

With regards to goals for the new semester, Rachel Ji was focussed on getting “a higher GPA and improving my communication skills.”

A higher GPA proved a consistent goal amongst students, with Marisa, Rachel, and Jessica aiming for improvement there, as well.

Ji looked forward to meeting “new classmates and [getting] some more knowledge from classmates and teachers.”

Similarly, Stefani Acevedo and Navkiran Dhillon both wanted to get better marks and meet new people.

Marisa said, “I like fall semester,” particularly compared to the summer semester, and Rachel agreed that in the fall semester “I can actually focus.”

Dhillon dreaded the number of night classes she had coming up in the new semester.

Louise Zhou and Lona Wang were hoping for “good teachers” and good classes in their next semester, anticipating teachers that would be well-suited to the course and would be interesting and easy to understand.

Wang also mentioned hoping for great “friends and classmates,” as well—especially when it comes to group work, she said, it helps to work with someone you get along with or already know.

A steady answer from students was that they looked forward to meeting new people and learning from new professors, and I have to agree that’s one of the better parts of starting up a new semester. Finding cool people you wouldn’t have otherwise met specifically because you both decided to take that philosophy course; bonding with people over group work and struggling to finish assignments together; maybe being annoyed by a few people in your classes, but sort of loving the distraction of being annoyed by them. I’ve formed lasting friendships with some of the classmates I’ve had, and left others behind in That Class I Took That One Semester. Either way, the suspense leading up to a class and finding out if you’ll love, hate, or be indifferent to the class and your classmates is one of the best parts of a new semester.