Summer school never sounded appealing; the idea of spending half of my day at school while the rest of the day would be taken over by assignments, studying, and no free time was not my ideal summer vacation.

During the summer of 2013, I watched my sister suffer through summer school classes at Fresno City College. She was stressed, started classes as early as 7 a.m. while trying to balance homework with all the other things she had to do.

I swore to myself then that I would never put myself through that. My summers would be mine and mine alone to spend as I saw fit.

However, as the spring 2014 semester was coming to a close and registration for summer courses were starting, I began to think about attending summer school. I realized that summer school would allow me to focus on only one course which would reduce my load in the the fall or spring.

I decided to take statistics [Math 11] and found that my initial thoughts, based on my observation of my sister’s experience was correct; the workload was overwhelming and I found even attending my cousin’s graduation difficult.

That summer, for four weeks straight, I started class at 7 a.m. and got home at 11 a.m., but spent a huge portion of the rest of my day working on homework and studying.

I didn’t have time for relaxing, nor did I have free time, but by the end of the session, I came to the realization that spending the countless hours at school and on homework was worth it.

Summer school is an amazing tool that students should take advantage of. It gave me the opportunity to focus on one class rather than the normal four to five classes that I would typically be enrolled in.

The course was for four weeks, which meant that the class was more intense and pushed me to the limit, but I also felt challenged to do my best.

Because I had the urge to relax during the day, it was difficult to maintain my focus on school, but it was not impossible to adjust to it.

I have to admit how hard it was. I started the class with a strong grade, but it quickly dropped to a C.

We took two exams every week and with my grade on the line, my focus reached a new level.

I was on guard every minute of every day, and the class challenged me on every level, but I fought back and managed to raise my grade.

Taking a course over summer also allowed me to further my graduation process as well as finish the required course quicker.

Without the option of summer school, I wouldn’t have the opportunity complete courses in a quicker pace.

Because of this experience, I was able to have one less class to stress about during the fall and spring semester as well as completing a challenging and stressful academic subject.

Although the workload was stressful, I am proud to say that I succeeded in summer school and gained knowledge along the journey.