Students are two weeks into the spring semester, and contrary to the expected sense of anticipation for good weather and the halfway mark of the school year, students are feeling a variety of different ways — concern about workloads, hopefulness for interesting classes, and eagerness about graduation.
From a diverse perspective of students across demographics, majors and campuses, here is what students are saying about the beginning of the new semester:
Many students expressed stress about time management, with early classes, a full workload, and balancing school projects.
Rothsen Villa, a junior studying communications on the Downtown Phoenix campus, has a Tempe class that she commutes to at 7:30 a.m. It is the earliest class she has taken since coming to ASU.
“I just did it that way because of my work schedule,” Villa said. “That way I can get things out of the way and have more free time.”
Casey Mihojevich, a senior studying justice studies on the Tempe campus, said that she and other students already have little free time and are going into this semester worried about burning out.
“It is a big struggle for me,” she said. “I am not taking as many classes this semester for that exact reason, because my schedule is just so jam packed.”
Sebastian Kordt, a sophomore studying biomedical engineering on the Tempe campus, is worried about the number of credits he is taking this semester.
“I'm taking 18, and it's all math classes,” he said. “So, it's not really an individual class that's going to be the problem; it’s kind of the whole thing.”
Bryn Kenehan is a sophomore studying nursing on the Downtown Phoenix campus and in Barrett, The Honors College. She said that her packed schedule will make balancing everything a challenge she is ready for.
“I loaded up a lot of my coursework in session A, so I think trying to manage that time will be challenging, especially with my honors thesis at the same time,” she said. “But I have had a busy workload the past three semesters, so I think I can figure it out.”
New classes, sometimes on new campuses, are something that students are looking forward to this spring.
“This is the first time I am taking a class in Tempe,” Kenehan said. “So I’m excited to be exploring another campus, expanding my horizons a little and finding new people.”
Kordt, as well as Arthur Breder Cordeiro De Oliveira, a freshman studying robotics engineering on the Polytechnic campus, both reported feeling an uptick in excitement and anticipation this semester for specialized classes necessary to graduate.
“I think all of my classes are finally really interesting,” Kordt said. “I am finally taking physiology too, and that is pretty cool.”
Students are also excited for other classes that focus more heavily on their majors.
"I'm most excited for engineering projects and engineering classes," De Oliveira said. "We always got to do new stuff and just try new materials, new methods, new tools. So that's always interesting.”
All in all, many students are excited for being one step closer to graduating and tossing their caps at the end of May.
However, some expressed already feeling the symptoms of burnout as the spring semester begins. Mihojevich said that being so close to graduation makes it hard to stay motivated to get work done.
“I just know that I am not going to want to do any of my homework, at all, ever,” she said. “It’s not just me, it’s also all of my friends—we never want to do our homework.”
Villa is most excited to have one more semester under her belt.
“It is a kind of a relief just because I’m like 'Oh, finally,'” Villa said. “It is mixed emotions because I feel like it went by fast and slow at the same time, and I don’t want it to end, but I am also over school.”
Mihojevich is getting commissioned at the end of the semester and said that she is excited to graduate and start something new.
“It feels amazing,” she said. “And it went by so fast.”
Edited by Katrina Michalak, Sadie Buggle and Caera Learmonth.
Reach the reporter at efoxmill@asu.edu and follow @emilyfoxmillion on X.
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