As July ends, students are getting closer to the end of summer and the start of the fall 2014 semester. While some people groan about the return to the weekly grind, there are some great things about the transition.
Here are the three best and worst things about the return of fall.
The Good
1. Leaving your apartment
Nothing eats away at a person like constant battles with management at an apartment complex. Spotty Wi-Fi, overpriced rent and random fees can all drive a college student insane.
Thankfully, most of us are only locked down for one year and can get out if things ever turn truly bad. Fresh starts are essential to making it through college, and finding a new and better place to live is a large part of that.
2. Return of football/tailgating
A sports fan can only live on baseball alone for so long. Thankfully, the fall brings the return of LSU football and the NFL. Suddenly, the weekends become far busier.
Even if sports aren’t your thing, football brings tailgating along with it, and there are few things more enjoyable than the atmosphere on campus during home-game Saturdays.
3. Better hours at restaurants
One thing I learned living in Baton Rouge this summer is that nothing stays open past midnight. It is too expensive to keep the same hours during the school year, and some restaurants close entirely in the summer.
But fall is returning, and that means students get the wide range of dining options they’re accustomed to. More importantly, students who work at these establishments will be able to work more hours, meaning a larger paycheck.
The Bad
1. Traffic
The benefit of living in what is basically a ghost town during the summer is the lack of cars. Every once in a while you might run into some congestion on Highland Road, but it’s nothing compared to what’s to come.
Even imagining being trapped on Aster Street as you try to get on Highland is frightening, so the real thing must be a nightmare. I, for one, will try to use the bus as much as possible to avoid being stuck in traffic constantly.
2. The dreaded first week
I’ve always hated the first week of classes — not because of any lectures, but because of the amount of people. It is so early in the year that most students actually attend class, causing the campus to be as congested as it ever will be.
I’m all for students going to class more, but I also know that’s a lost cause. The same students come the first week and never come back, like clockwork, and it makes the start of every semester annoying.
3. Textbooks
If an increase in students’ fee bill is not enough to break the bank, there are the dreaded prices for your new batch of textbooks. The prices seem to go higher every year, while the money you get for selling them back seems to go down.
I usually go into each semester convincing myself I won’t buy a textbook and save money, but after my professors go on about the importance of textbooks for that course, I give in. The best part is when I use those books for only three assignments the entire semester.