Caleb Reagor, student government president
This story was originally published Dec 1, 2015.
Because ACC combines Thanksgiving break and fall break into one long vacation, students experience unnecessary levels of stress at the beginning of the semester and classes waste precious time at the end of the semester. ACC ought to change its fall schedule to fit the needs of its students.
As we head into the final stretch of this Fall 2015 semester, I cannot help but recognize the inconvenience of ACC’s Thanksgiving-and-fall-break. In this, my third year at ACC, I have encountered many of the same problems as the last two years, and I have seen the same looks of distress on the faces of my peers. The extended Thanksgiving break creates an awkward division of time: Students carry on for 13 weeks without a break and then return to school with only two weeks left.
Although this problem is not unique to ACC, the nature of community college life lends itself to a simple solution.
ACC serves students in and around the Denver area, so students do not have to travel home for Thanksgiving. Consequently, ACC does not need to provide an extended Thanksgiving break to accommodate traveling students. If ACC moved its fall break to earlier in the semester, students would get a much-needed break earlier in the semester and optimize their class time at the end of the semester.
ACC ought to change its fall schedule to fit the needs of its students.
— Caleb Reagor
With ACC’s current fall schedule, professors struggle to fit class material and associated tests into suitable time intervals. They often feel that the two weeks after the extended Thanksgiving break are not enough to cover all of the material for a final test, so they end up slightly modifying the material and cramming it all into the first 13 weeks.
As a result, I have already taken the majority of my final exams.
If ACC were to reduce Thanksgiving break to Thursday and Friday, professors would be less inclined to cram all of the class material in before the break. Students are less likely to forget material over a two-day break than a week-long break, so professors will not feel as though they need to finish a chapter before the break.
And although the Thanksgiving break provides ample time to study for an impending final, the last two weeks of class are essentially wasted in the current system.
By providing students with a two-to-three day break halfway through the semester, ACC would create a healthier, less stressful learning environment for the entire semester. And, by reducing the Thanksgiving break to two days, ACC would allow professors to continue lectures after the break, allowing for a better use of the last two weeks of class.
Students would get the most out of their tuition dollars.
My proposed scheduling system would not work at all colleges, but ACC has a unique opportunity that it should not let go to waste.
Caleb Reagor is the ACC student government president, part of the Colorado Early Colleges Douglas County dual-enrollment program and a varsity soccer player at ThunderRidge High School. He plans to transfer to a four-year school next fall.
