What's better: spring or fall semester?

Illustration: Carter Klassen · The Sentry

Springtime brings sunshine

Opinion by Sang Dao

When a new semester begins, there is nothing better than looking forward to warmer weather. The sun does not go down before dinner, and everything is alive rather than dead and withered by the brutal winter.

Compared to spring, beginning the semester in the fall is tiring. Students don’t want to leave their beds in the morning to attend classes when they could snuggle up in warm, cozy blankets. Spring, on the other hand, is a season of renewal and rejuvenation. Seasonal depression is kicked out the door and is replaced by sunshine and blooming plants. At the same time, students end the semester with higher hopes and summer break peeking around the corner. Where spring semester raises the spirits of college students during the semester grind, fall makes them feel more sluggish.

Spring semester allows students to catch some fresh air and bask in the Colorado heat. In the fall, everything is falling below freezing. Who would want to bundle up in multiple layers to trek to class in the snow while the cold air feels like it’s suffocating their lungs?

Unlike fall, the mid-semester break in the spring is not toward the end of the year where students are rushing to finish their finals and make last minute travel arrangements before leaving for break. Spring semester has a week break in the middle, so the semester feels evenly paced.

Spring semester is more lively than the fall with the plants and trees blooming and returning once more. Students can end the semester knowing their hard work and effort is paid off and rewarded with a cool and sunny summer break right around the corner. Students can soak up the sun not having to worry about school or work until the next semester. Whatever their plans are, traveling is easier with blue skies and sunshine rather than random snow storms and delayed flights.

Fall is the cure to relaxation

Opinion by John Mazzetta

The fresh start of spring semester: a new year to look forward to, a new semester of classes, and hopefully, for some, graduation. But taking a step back from the rose-colored glasses means taking spring semester for what it is on most days: unpredictable weather that brings dark, grey mornings in the bitter wind trudging to an 8 a.m. that couldn’t be avoided. So, what makes fall semester so much more enjoyable?

For one thing, peaceful weeks of Colorado summer give plenty of time to recover and prepare for the fall semester. Autumn school days are casual, and a few three-day weekends scattered throughout the fall schedule are a forgiving hangover cure.

Winter break, in contrast, lasts just long enough to get in some much-needed relaxation, though any illusion of comfort is put to an unceremonious end in January. Trying to get acclimated to new professors, wandering buildings in search of lecture halls, and blowing copious amounts of money on textbooks mark the beginning of the gloomy spring days and everything feels a little bleaker.

The quick reintroduction leaves everyone on campus visibly irritated, as the memories of sleeping in until 1 p.m. fade, and all that’s left are papers to be written at the last minute in the early morning hours before class.

Even as the weeks go by and the weather begins again to lend itself to being active outside, it seems to be of little respite for students stuck inside studying and poring over finals. Weekends in the fall that were cozy and unhurried are replaced by spring internships and studying for the more difficult classes that are often encouraged in the spring semester.

Granted, there are ups and downs in any semester and spring isn’t always terrible. But the refreshing opportunities fall semester brings after a long summer break is indisputable. Spring semester is far more ruthless, and unforgiving to the unprepared student.