DU’s winter break is long, so long that some may see it as wasted time, but it is really valuable time for students, faculty and their families. Most other colleges have separate breaks for fall and winter.
This isn’t as enjoyable for students, as during those two breaks semester students are studying and stressing about their final exams. DU lumps these together into a six-week long break.
However, DU students get their exams out of the way before break, allowing for more efficient time use over the winter. The longer break provides for more opportunities for students including jobs, study abroad and getting extra credit hours.
63 percent of DU’s undergraduate student body is from out of state, so having both a fall break and winter break would mean either spending twice the money to get home or missing out on a family holiday. The longer break also grants an opportunity to get seasonal jobs at home, something that two shorter breaks would not allow. A seasonal job can go far in gathering extra spending money, paying for books or contributing to tuition. Over six weeks, working at minimum wage part-time would earn someone over $800. This is just for part-time and does not include overtime awarded for working during Black Friday or other holidays. $800 can pay for books or give students a lot of spending money for the upcoming quarters.
From a faculty perspective, the longer break seems more efficient. Christopher Rosales, faculty here in the English department, says when he taught at universities with separate breaks, the class time between breaks was almost useless.
“Students and faculty get off one break to come back to school, but then have a new break to look forward to, so concentration is just not there.” The long break can also be used efficiently for winter interterm courses for students. The longer time allows for students to take advantage of unique travel opportunities for courses. This upcoming winter interterm is offering classes in Austria, China, France and India. There are also a large number of courses for students to take on campus ranging from biology to religious studies.
Online courses are also offered, so the 63 percent of students that are going home for break don’t miss out. Economics, communication and German are being offered online, and some professors allow students to take their on-campus classes online. Winter interterm classes can also provide needed credit for students, make graduating on time easier and lightening the course load during the quarter. Semester students get much shorter interterm classes, if they have them at all.
The six-week break every year can prepare DU students for after college because they will have more time to gain job experience and credit. DU students get the chance to have immersive, beneficial experiences because of the long break. If students think ahead to winter break and sign up for interterms, get jobs and view it as a chance to get ahead in school, then it is most certainly not wasted time.
