Gillian Daley/ Contributing Writer
Adding to the stress of evacuation, clean-up and dealing with massive power loss, FIU’s student body has just been dealt another blow. On Sept. 14, the external relations office sent out an email informing students of an extension to the semester’s academic calendar.
While the campus opens to resume classes Monday, that doesn’t mean everything goes back to normal. Among the many changes students will have to adjust to, one of the most controversial changes is the one week extension of classes.
The change would essentially push the semester back so that finals week would run from Dec. 11-16. In theory, it seems like a minor alteration, but the reality of the situation may prove to be far more complicated.
Aside from the obvious objections from students who will likely resent the fact they have, in essence, traded one week of winter vacation in return for a week of gas-lines, power outages and a whole heap of worry, there are some real issues with the idea of an extension.
When FIU officials gathered together with our Student Government, the Faculty Senate and the United Faculty of Florida, they might not have realized the weighty effect that their decision might have on certain members of the student body.
Maintaining the full length of our winter breaks isn’t just an important issue because students simply don’t want to go to more classes. It goes beyond that. Holidays are a time during which some people are at their most fragile.
Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as the winter blues, is a very serious affliction, according to the National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health.
The “long dark days” of winter coupled with a sense of loneliness or emptiness may affect anyone. The Huffington Post reports that “feelings of depression and negative mood affect many people at the holidays, and not just those who’ve been diagnosed with clinical depression.”
In the wake of one of the worst hurricanes to hit the Atlantic in recorded history and its turbulent aftermath, it’s reasonable to assume that much of the student body has already experienced an emotionally exhausting semester.
Those who might be feeling overwhelmed will not be helped by the immense stresses of finals week cutting into their time of recuperation at home with friends and family.
Cutting into winter break isn’t the same as cutting into spring or summer break—there is more potentially at stake here. The triggers for depression during the holidays are abound, particularly for college students who live on campus and apart from their friends and family.
In this time of uncertainty, one thing is clear. It’s important for the school board to take the mental health of students into account just as much as they do our physical health.
It would be a much better move to advise faculty and staff members to condense their curriculums into the time available for the rest of the semester rather than cut into students’ much needed time of rest.
This would be a viable option because as it is now, teachers are already making adjustments to their syllabi and it would be better for students who are already feeling overwhelmed by the numerous stressors and challenges we’ve faced thus far this semester.
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The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of Panther Press Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.
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