In the 2012-2013 calendar year, the University will implement a five-day fall break for students in Yale College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. To compensate for the change, reading week and finals week will each be shortened by two days. Students passing through Commons Tuesday morning, one day after President Levin announced the change to faculty, weighed in.
This is the first of a weekly series featuring student opinion on hot topics.
“I think the changes are a really good idea. Fall semester is way too long without a break, and it just tires people out. We need the rest to do our best in the second half of the semester. Also, not having one makes it difficult for freshmen to understand how Yale works. Going the first 12, 13 weeks of the semester without a break, some freshmen get burned out.”
- Kyle Killeen ’12
“I think that’s a great idea. I’m a senior, and in my experience it’s very easy to become completely exhausted by the end of fall semester. You work non-stop for three months without a break.”
- Jacob Levine ’11
“They should definitely do that. Fall semester is so stressful, there’s a lot to do, and most schools have a break, so we should have it too. I don’t think [a shorter reading week] would be a problem. For most people reading week is a bit boring; people don’t do much aside from watching movies.”
- Daniel Aineah ’14
“It sounds terrible. It’s really inconsiderate of the many people at the University who live too far for a five-day vacation to be feasible. I guess it’s convenient for people from Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, but I’m from Texas. Not only would it be really expensive [to go home for five days], it’s just not feasible.”
- Jordon Walker ’13
“Sounds good. I think it’s just good to have breaks.”
- Cong Li GRD ’16