For me, anyways.

My 2nd year courses start next Tuesday. I've been having fits about the fact that I'll be at a brand new college I've only ever set foot in once. Tomorrow I'm planning to go pick up my brand new U-Pass (let's hear it for tuition-made-even-cheaper public transit! ) and to try to locate my classrooms before I have to do the mad morning dash on a daily basis.

And I know I'll be fine, credits-wise, but I'm fussing over the courses I picked too. I just hope I picked good ones and won't have ended up wasting my time.

I didn't feel any anxiety about the process last year, so I wonder what's up with me this year? I'm not normally a worrier.


Maybe I just need to cut down on the coffee. My caffeine intake has probably quadrupled since moving out to the coast.
[Edited 8/25/08 0:31am]

how long do schools in the US get for their summer holidays?
In the UK I think they get around 6 weeks.

muirdo said:

I have no idea what the US gets. More or less the same as Canada, I assume.

Regular school that everyone goes to gets from about mid-June to the end of August or beginning of September, depending where you are. Post secondary gets from beginning of April until the beginning of September off.

meow85 said:

I looked it up
In the US the schools get 3 MONTHS off....3 Months!!!!!

In the United States, summer vacation lasts for almost 3 months. Most schools take summer vacation from early June to Labor Day or from late May to late August. These dates vary depending on the location of the school district.
In Australia, the Summer season officially lasts from December to February, and therefore coincides with the Christmas and New Year holidays. The dates of Australian school holidays (the term used, rather than "vacation") are determined by each state's Department of Education, the Summer (also known as Christmas) holidays being the longest in duration. Typically Christmas or Summer holidays in Australia last approximately six weeks, usually from around December 20th (depending on school year, see below) to the last few days of January. While significantly shorter than the North American Summer vacation, Australian schools also break for two weeks at Easter, and in June and September, giving students and teachers a total of twelve weeks of annual holidays .In many public schools, years 10 through 12 will finish before December 20th, allowing time to complete exam marking and results. Year 10 commonly finishes at the end of November, Year 11 at the end of October, and year 12 also at the end of October after 3 weeks of end-of-year exams. This can bring the normal 12 weeks of vacation to 20 weeks of vacation. The intervening periods of school operation are called "School Terms", each term lasting approximately ten weeks. All Australian states have relatively similar holiday periods, but there is the ability for this to change around, such as for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth games, when the first term in Victorian schools was shortened to 6 weeks and the other subsequently extended to 12 weeks each allowing people to attend the events. Most private schools in Australia have up to four weeks additional holidays, due to their longer teaching hours during term.
In New Zealand, the summer holidays for primary school students typically starts around 20 December, and ends around 7 February. For junior secondary school students (Years 9 and 10), school holidays typically start one week before primary school students. Senior secondary school students (Years 11, 12, and 13) officially start their summer holidays at the same time as the junior secondary school students, but the summer holidays for them start in mid-November, in the week before the first NCEA exams.
In the Republic of Ireland, most secondary schools get off for Summer on the last week of May or first week in June and don't return until the first or week in September. They also receive around two weeks for Easter and around another two weeks for Christmas and New Year, as well as another week around Halloween (called "Mid-Term") and another few days (usually 1 or 2) for St. Patrick's Day. Most schools also get every Bank Holiday off. Students doing exams (Junior Cert and Leaving Cert) have to come in some days during June to sit their exams but otherwise have the same break as those not doing exams. Primary schools in the Republic of Ireland follow the same pattern, though only get off for Summer at the end of June. All schools in Northern Ireland also follow the same pattern as primary schools in the Republic of Ireland, except students doing exams (GCSE and A-Levels), who get off at the start of May on "Study-Leave" and do the exams sometime in June, but still have the same Summer as those not doing exams.
In Scotland, school summer holidays start around the end of June and last for about 7 weeks, with most schools returning in the middle of August. In addition to summer holidays, scottish schools have 1 or 2 weeks in October, 2 weeks at Christmas and 2 weeks at Easter. A bank holiday in May, and one in September wraps it up for school holidays. Scottish schools get the fewest days off in the whole of the United Kingdom.
In England & Wales, summer holidays start near the end of July, and last until the first week of September (normally 6 weeks). In addition, schools have three 1 week long half term breaks (one at the end of October, one in mid February and one in late May), as well as 2 weeks off for Christmas and 2 weeks off for Easter, bringing the total weeks off per year to 13 weeks.
In the Philippines, summer holidays for kindergarten, elementary, and high schools typically start on the third or last week of March and ends in the first week of June. This coincides the country's tropical summer months which span from March to May. Colleges and universities, however, offer summer classes for students who wants to take advanced subjects or those who fail to pass the prerequisites for the next school year. School year begins in the second week of June, the start of Philippines' wet season.
In Pakistan, summer vacation starts from May 31st, as annual examinations or semsters in schools, colleges & universities of the country end during the month, and last till the end of July owing to extreme summer.
In Israel,summer vacation for the middle school and high school (7th-12th grade) start at June 20th and end at September 1st. Lower grades are off to vacation on the 30th to June and ends at September 1st.
In Malaysia, final term examinations begin in October, at times in September. The term ends usually around November 15, this marks the beginning of the vacation. A new term begins a day or two, sometimes a week after the New Year. This applies to kindergarten, elementary and high schools.

I started school last week

It starts in a week for me too. I picked up Chemistry, a photgraphy class and a democratic environments class.

I started last Thursday - four more classes and I graduate with a double-major in Web and print graphic design

School started here today. Thank God these lil' critters won't be traipsing through my yard all day no mo'!

Stymie said:

I've got

Philosophy: Social and Political Ethics
Anthropology: Intro to Myth and Folklore
Racism & Ethnic Relations in Canada
and some lame English class I'm required to take for the degree. Short Prose Study and Essay Writing.

I really should've taken the English last year, but didn't quite get around to it.

SCNDLS said:

'Round these parts elementary and high school start the same day as college and uni do, so sadly I don't get to bask in any peace and quiet. I'll be shlepping off to the smarts factories the same day all the neighbourhood 6 year olds are.

Oh, crap. I'm going to have to leave home earlier so I don't get behind that damn bus.

applekisses said:

Cool!


And school starting, to me, means the house all to myself while the kids are in school (on days I stay home from work, of course).

meow85 said:

I live across the street from private school--the kids usually wake me up in the morning when they're hanging out before first period. I checked the school's website--classes don't start until September 9, which seems late to me.

(When I was in hight school, it started the last week of August and got out the week before Memorial Day in May. We didn't get a week off for Spring Break though and only 2 weeks off for xmas/New Year's, I think.)

My baby girl starts Sept 9

Hey Students!
http://www.youtube.com/wa...PIIMbG9R4w