When I talked to students after the May Term presentation on the first Collaborative Wednesday of the year, the vast majority of people I talked to were disappointed by the new system. Of course, this is far from a scientific poll, but from the conversations I had, it seemed that sophomores and juniors had gone in expecting promise of the same kind of hands-off, free-form May Term seniors got yearly, and were disappointed by the in-school option they were presented with. And I felt the same way.

I sat down with Melanie Pusateri, one of the administrators in charge of May Term. She explained that the reasoning behind giving sophomores and juniors a more restrictive May Term was because many of them wouldn’t have their own transportation.

I don’t think that this is completely valid reasoning, since many sophomores and juniors do have a driver’s license and those who don’t could arrange other ways of getting where they need to go.

Why not have the option for doing May Term for all as it now stands for sophomores and juniors who don’t have transportation, and letting those who can get where they need to go do traditional May Term?

But, despite the restrictive nature of May Term for all, it seems like the program could have real potential. Although there won’t be a full course catalog until January, it seems like there will be a lot of different options. The classes will cover all of the core subjects, plus extra classes like culinary arts and self defense. There are even plans for in-school internships and classes run entirely by students. While it might not be as liberating as doing the entirely self-controlled May Term projects seniors have the opportunity to do, it will definitely be a much more personalized kind of education than regular school, and I’m looking forward to experiencing it.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions shared in this article are those of the writer, and not Zephyrus as a whole.