Week Nine

There are many ways to find out which week we are currently in. You could simply ask any student or faculty member; anyone can tell you without hesitation which week we are on and how many weeks are left until break. Another telltale sign: the number of nappers on campus. As the quarter progresses and work piles up, you can find students sprawled all over campus in any number of positions, stealing a moment or two to catch up on a few zzz's. RIT students are very innovative in their napping techniques and locations. There is no place left unnapped on this campus. Desperate times call for desperate measures, people!

As a personal indicator, I can usually tell which week it is based on my caffeine consumption. This week, I've had coffee everyday, usually more than once a day. I'm not a big coffee drinker so when I start spending all my Tiger Bucks at Java's, I know that the end of the quarter is here. In general, the level of energy on campus wanes at the end of the quarter. In my 3d Design class yesterday my professor stopped talking in the middle of his lecture and said, "You guys are so quiet today! What's the deal?" In humorous, unplanned unison, the class responded, "It's week 9."

There's no explanation needed after that. We are tired, have a lot of homework and all we can think about is going home for some turkey and stuffing in a few weeks! But the good news is that in a few weeks, we are done! When we come back after Thanksgiving, we get to start a new quarter. It's an opportunity to turn over a new leaf with new classes and new professors. That's one good thing about the quarter system: there's no time to be bored!

In 2013, RIT will make the conversion to the semester system. I wrote about that change last year and you can read about it here. I'm still a big supporter of the semester system and think it's a great decision for RIT. Check the RIT Semester Conversion website to learn more about how the change is going to happen!