Late Start
Thirteen of the 15 public universities had graduation ceremonies this past weekend.
CMU, if you may have noticed, still is in session.
That means students at 13 universities get a week's head start at jobs and internships while CMU students are taking finals.
Sure, you probably have slim prospects if you have yet to get an internship or job for the summer. But if you still are looking, good luck - nearly everyone else has a head start on you.
The vast majority of Michigan college students already will have a week under their belt before we get there. That is a week's worth of experience and pay that we have to wait for.
This isn't a call to end classes earlier because we are lazy. It's just that we want to be on a level playing field with the majority of other college students in Michigan.
Here's is how it should be done.
First, simply start earlier. The University of Michigan started this semester Thursday, Jan. 3. CMU started Jan. 7. U-M's exam week began on Thursday, April 17. Then exams continued the following Monday, April 21, and ended Thursday.
CMU can do this as well. All it has to do is start earlier, and get rid of the lame four-day "Gentle Weekend." If you think this extra time actually was used for studying, then you were not at the Cabin on Wednesday.
Another option is to have the same schedule as WMU.
WMU started the same day as CMU. Yet Western too had graduation ceremonies this past weekend.
If it means extending individual class hours, so be it. The 50-minute Monday, Wednesday and Friday classes are ineffective, anyway. It seems like by the time you get started, it's already time to go.
So, CMU students, good luck on finals.
For the rest of Michigan college students, have fun starting your job/internship.
