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| Summer
Classes: Intensity and Informality
By Lainey S. Cronk
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 During the sunny green days of summer, the campus kicks off its
shoes and falls into a comfortable doze. There’s no massive
noon hubbub in the cafeteria; you’re just as likely to encounter
maintenance workers as students; and there’s no sudden flood
of students hurrying up and down stairs every hour.
But all is not asleep and empty. Here and there in library chairs
and dorm rooms, students still read thick books and stare at computer
screens. Faculty and staff come and go in their offices. And in
the quiet buildings, small groups of students meet daily for their
general psychology class or their physics lab. With about 70 classes
offered (including some at the Albion Field Station, the Honors
Summer Abroad, and online courses), there are plenty of students—and
teachers—still hard at the books.
The tone of these classes is noticeably different from regular
session classes. For one thing, the classes tend to be small. Amanda
Rusch is taking History of World Civilizations along with six other
students—but, she says, only 3 come to class every day! The
others do their reading outside of class and come for the tests. “So
it’s much more personal, just because it’s so small,” Rusch
explains. “During breaks most of us don’t go anywhere,
so we talk to Dr. Glaim and get more acquainted.” And though
it is a lecture class, the small size makes it perfectly comfortable
to throw in a little discussion—for instance, Rusch recounts,
a student from Turkey has provided some personal insights into
the class material on Islam.
Student Aimee Veness found a similar tone among the nine students
in her Adventist history class—although hers had the added
distinction of consisting largely of teachers returning to complete
their Adventist credentials. This two-week class was pretty intense,
with three to four hours of class daily, followed by a heavy load
of reading. “I’m used to taking that many hours of
class,” Aimee admits, “but not all on one subject!” But
she enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. “Instead of everyone
rushing out as soon as class was over, people stayed and talked
for a while,” she recounts. “Mostly to say things like, ‘how
are we ever going to do all this reading?!’”
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