Part of me wonders whether or not my choice to attend summer classes here at the University was a smart decision.

Don’t get me wrong; I think it was a practically wise choice for me to do so. I’m getting a few major-related courses and gen-eds out of the way, I’m making some money through a job and I get to eat a dumptruck-sized Chipotle burrito every Monday night.

Yes, I believe I am having a productive summer. But what I am worried about is that bridging the gap between my freshman and sophomore years with 12 weeks of solid classes could potentially result in a total burnout of college life for me.

Most students I know are working full-time jobs, have internships or are doing other things. I’m doing something different which might just result in me beginning to hate the college lifestyle which I’ve grown so accustomed to.

After all, summer school has more in common with regular fall-to-spring school than I had previously envisioned. Classwork is still a deciding factor in how I manage my time, we still have to take tests and exams (*shudder*) and the Wendy’s in the Student Union is still open in case I need to smash a frosty into my mouth after a tough class.

Then again, regular school might seem even better when I jump back into it in August, since summer school is so low-key and quiet. The inactivity here during the summer should make regular school seem all the better.

I sure hope I end up liking regular classes more because of my choice to attend summer classes. If I feel burnt out coming into my sophomore year, then some rather complex situations could occur.

For Charles Bronson’s sake, I’ve talked to people who’ve dropped out of school because they were sick of it after one year. I don’t want that to be me. But at this point in my college career, I still like school. So that’s a good thing, I guess. I wouldn’t want to drop out of school, citing “I got bored” as my major reason for doing so.

I can be fairly sure that I won’t be brain-fried from extreme college education-ing anytime soon, but what about in the future?

What if I decide to attend graduate school?

I really can’t see how some people have the patience to endure such a massive load of schooling. For me, I plan to get in (wait, I’ve already done that part!), get my bachelor’s and get outta here ASAP. More years than four equals MORE MONEY SPENT ON COLLEGE.

I’ve always thought of myself as being somewhat of a patient person, but my brain would be KFC-crispy after a few years of grad school.

Oh, and a Ph.D.?

Forget it. None for me, please. I don’t think that I, with a brain reduced to a Jell-O-like compound, should be pursuing anything like that. Besides, I don’t want to be a professor.

Not yet, at least.

But, I have had a small handful of well-educated (more than I’ll ever be) people here at the University tell me that I should consider the vocation of a college professor.

But would I be a good college professor? Well, the Ph.D. thing I’m not so sure about; three additional years of cooperative education and classes doesn’t really float my boat (or my wallet, which is now a bill-bullet-riddled mess, so it can’t really float either).

But then again, I DO have a collection of ugly suit jackets, denim jeans, assorted 1960s-style neckties, hair pomade, wingtip dress shoes and the guts to use them. Hey, even if I don’t have what it takes to become a college professor, I do have what it takes to dress like one.

Not that professors have bad taste in dress clothes.

I’m just saying that if I was one of them, I’d go all out. I’d make students fear me more than their homework. They would fear that the yellow spots on my suit coat would jump out and blast the skin off their faces.

Ughh ” whoops.

I guess blowing the skin off of people’s faces doesn’t really apply to being burnt-out from college life.

– Respond to Levi at [email protected].