Semester showdown

Jill: Spending both semesters on campus has given me the ability to see what campus life is like across the seasons. I’ve gotten to see the excitement of sports games, hear the athletes celebrate when they win, and attend campus events like bingo. After seeing both semesters, I can say with full confidence that one semester is better than the other. The semester that ultimately wins in my head is the fall semester.

Think about it this way, in the fall semester, we’re starting fresh. We have a summer break that’s about four months long, and during that time, people get sick of their family members or their hometown, and they actually want to come back.

There’s an energy around campus that you just don’t get during the spring. You get to see friends reuniting, everyone catching up on what they did over the summer, and a little bit of excitement and nervousness over our new schedules. It’s exciting to see all of the freshmen learn how to navigate campus and seeing the student body come together at different events on campus. In September, people can also take advantage of the warm weather and sit outside more.

In contrast, you have the spring semester, which starts in the middle of the winter. Nobody is coming back from a nice, relaxing break. Instead, everyone’s dragging them- selves back to campus after a few weeks of cold weather and post-finals exhaustion. There is little to no excitement because everybody is miserable because of how cold it is outside.

Vibe-wise, the fall is still superior. The fall is filled with some of the best parts of Lasell: move-in day, the first day of classes, welcome weekend, U-Belong, the list goes on. The weather is perfect for spending some time outside, so much so that walking to class doesn’t even feel like a chore.

Now, compare this to the spring, which is just, well, miserable. We have the struggle of slipping on ice on the way to class or waking up to snowstorms that cause trekking through campus to be a little more treacherous. Yes, spring does get nice at some point, but at that rate, we only have a month to enjoy the warm weather with our friends on campus before we pack up and move out.

Academically, fall also has its advantages. It’s the start of a new academic year, which causes motivation to be at an all-time high. A lot of people set goals, buy planners that they intend to use, and genuinely want to start strong. By the time we get to the spring semester, the burnout is real. Remembering that you have to go through midterms and finals, being added into the exhaustion that coincides with the spring is a lot.

Of course, spring does have its moments. The days do get longer, and the end of the academic year brings a sense of accomplishment, especially with summer right around the corner. But when it comes to comparing the experience of the fall and the spring semesters, the fall 100% wins.

Graphic by Mylena Bovo

Mason: All right, look, I get it. Snow is annoying, cold weath- er is bothersome, and having to sleep with 18 blankets on you every night in your dorm is obnoxious. But, once all of that goes away, you (hopefully) have the warmth of a New England spring to greet you. It is amazing once it happens, because there is no better place for me to study for finals than outside on a table on a late April afternoon when it is 70 degrees and sunny out. Nothing will help your focus better than putting on some music in your earbuds to focus and feeling the breeze hit you as you race to finish that paper or study for that test.

Now, one may say, the fall semester is always easier and that the holidays inside of it make it more enjoyable. To the first point that it is easier, I mean, yes, it may be, but only for freshmen. These freshmen always get a lighter first semester to ease them into things before being thrown to the fire in their spring semester (as was my experience). Once you get to sophomore year, both semesters each school year are a grind, so the first argument be- comes a mostly moot point.

The second argument that the holidays in the fall make it more enjoyable has a lot of flaws to it, as well. Not only are you at home for two of them (Thanksgiving and Christmas), but Halloween is barely a holiday a lot of people celebrate, as most consider it to be a time just for young kids to enjoy themselves trick or treating. Spring only has one of these holidays (Easter), and it isn’t even one that a lot of people celebrate and it doesn’t really provide much in the way of distractions from the main goal of finishing your finals and making it to the sweet embrace of summer.

Looping back to another point regarding the weather, at least during the spring semester you have the idea of it being warm and sunny very soon to look forward to. Sure, during the fall it may be 55 degrees and crisp outside now, but in just 2 months, it will be 25 degrees and snowing every day.

You have nothing to look forward to during the fall, but, again, at least during the spring, you can look at the trees turning green and the flowers blossoming and be happy that better weather is on its way, and, therefore, better times are coming for you as well.