Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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K-State operates at half-speed; activities, people, classes fewer By John Lonergan Maybe you ' re a senior, and you need those extra hours to graduate. Maybe you ' re an underclassper- son, and you want to fill in some time so you won ' t be taking 18 hours a semester your senior year. Maybe you ' re a high school graduate, you want to get the jump on your future classmates and get used to college life. Or maybe you ' re a schoolteach- er and you ' ve come for a few more hours of credit during your vacation. Whatever the reason, you ' ve made your decision. You ' re in sum- mer school. For the most part, your friends have deserted you; the cam- pus is operating at half-speed. So now what? You can resign yourself to the drudgery of too much class in too lit- tle time; or you can try to make the most of an otherwise bleak situation.. You can feel fortunate that it ' s easier to concentrate in the total immersion atmosphere; or you can sit dumbfounded trying to figure out why your summer GPA is the lowest of your college career. You can bum it and try enjoying your quasi-vacation for whatever it ' s worth; or you can depress yourself with thoughts of how much money you would be making at your old summer job. You can rejoice that housing isn ' t as scarce as usual; or you can wonder belatedly where you ' re going to pick up a roommate on the spur of the moment. You can be glad your classes are small and you can get to know the teachers better; or you can despair that your classes are small and your teachers can get to know you better. You can rest assured that nine out of ten K-State students are ing, good-looking persons with great personalities; or you can be dismayed that every tenth one goes to summer school. You can take heart that the competition in intramurals is not as tough as during the regular season; or you can lament when you discov- er that the all-University handball champion of the last three years just happened to stick around this summer. You can amuse yourself watch- ing the high school orientation stu- dents walking around in various states of shock and awe; or you can curse that every time you turn around you run into one of them. You can appreciate being able to find your companions in Aggie- ville more easily; or you can tire of turning down propositions from the great many ROTC men who have suddenly flooded the taverns. You can be grateful the Union isn ' t as crowded or noisy as it nor- mally is; or you can bowl four lines and try pretending that you ' re hav- ing a good time. You can exalt and carry on as you confirm your notions that sum- mer school is one big party; or you can come to the sobering realization that it may be a party, but it is indeed a rather small one. And so summer school, like many things in life, is another case of give and take. You can take advan- tage of many situations that don ' t exist during the regular school year. But, there are still classes to at- tend, books to read and papers to write. You have, perhaps, more free- dom, more decisions to make, more time to regulate; yet a good many of your choices have already been made for you. But then, if you had It your own way, you probably wouldn ' t be in summer school, would you? Summer School — 23