Entering my fifth month of co-op in May, with students arriving back on campus for Summer I, I got really excited - I had heard from friends that Northeastern plans lots of activities for students staying on campus in the summer, conveniently called Summester. When the schedule of events came out, I was so disappointed.
I completely understand there are day trips nearly every Friday because students don't have class then. But what are co-op students supposed to do? The majority of students on co-op work a traditional 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. work week Mondays through Fridays, making them unavailable to take advantage of a day trip to New York City or a whale-watching adventure. My newspaper job at the Patriot Ledger requires me to work Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For Summer I, the only "day trips" available on a weekend are duck tours and trips to the Franklin Park Zoo. It's a far cry from $5 bus rides to NYC and $10 tickets to Six Flags New England. In fact, the only events readily available for co-op students working the traditional work week are the Red Sox night games, and it's not always guaranteed you'll get a coveted seat.
My plea to the Student Activities and Leadership Office is this: Although I'll be home at the end of June, my hope is that the Summer II Summester activities schedule is tweaked so co-op students have more opportunities to go on day trips Saturdays and Sundays. Maybe there could be two NYC trips - one on a Friday and another on a Saturday or Sunday.
Sure, we co-op students aren't taking classes, but a trip down the Superman roller coaster at Six Flags is certainly needed by the end of an intense co-op job.
- Michaela Stanelun is a middler journalism major.
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