this summer is the first time i've stayed in Raleigh for the entire period between the end of school in may and the subsequent beginning of school in august. i've been around at times before, certainly, like for the Phish show during the summer of 97, or to go to scout camp in Raven Knob (actually near Mount Airy, but it's still in NC). but this summer i needed to stay here and take classes, so i've had some new experiences.
one of the most notable, i think, is summer school itself. this is the first time ever that i've gone to summer school. i did go to Duke's TIP in 1994, but that three-week programming course wasn't really summer school. so far, classes this summer have been a learning experience. they are interesting, that's for sure, but taking any class in a period of 5 weeks (the normal semester lasts 15 weeks) is really an exercise in futility. as a result, the classes i've been taking (modern american history and developmental psychology) have been really strikingly easy. the homework loads are negligible, so that going to class is basically the only requirement for getting an excellent grade. i suppose i should put a disclaimer here that this is coming from a student who's used to taking upwards of 20 hours per semester, so for me the 6 hours of summer school classes seem pretty laid back.
which is really nice, actually. it's nice to be able to go to class for 4 hours a day and then have the rest of the time for playing the guitar, reading (including reading the homework for the next day's classes), programming, playing some frisbee, or going running. maybe i've been missing the point all this time in taking those absurd class loads, most of which have all but eliminated eating and sleeping from my schedule, much less guitar-playing and exercise. but i suppose i learned the art of the all-nighter fairly well, and i approached the tuition surcharge class limit fairly quickly. there are always tradeoffs, i suppose.
well, what else is there to say about the summer in Raleigh at NC State ? the weather is pretty hot, but not unbearable. living is pretty laid back in general, as it's usually too hot to get worked up about anything but the most important points. also, most of the crew here has graduated and will be going elsewhere for grad school or employment in the real world, so the summer has had a sort of farewell tinge to it. mostly, though, the summer here has been summer, maybe not quite so filled with the glee of younger days in other states, but it's still summer.
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