Syllabus week, better known as sylly week, is the first week of every semester when professors introduce themselves and pass out syllabi. Some college students believe that this is the perfect time to party every day of the week in celebration of the new semester. However, others debate that it is one of the most stressful and difficult weeks of any given semester.

Syllabus week entails meeting new professors, finding new classrooms, buying new textbooks, reviewing the syllabus, constant changing of schedules, and overall getting back into the swing of academic pressure, which is draining.

Students typically spend hours researching their professors beforehand on sites like Rate My Professor and through word of mouth. Of course, this means students stress before even attending the class as they ponder whether what they read and have heard are true. However, some students choose to blindly select classes and professors with no prior knowledge of the professor.

Obviously, with every professor comes a syllabus, and reviewing all the workload in every class outlined in each syllabus can be incredibly stressful. Comparing each abominable paper full of work that needs to be completed by the end of the semester can make life feel like a nightmare.

In addition to students being stressed about their workload, they’re anxious about where their class is on campus. Sophomore Emma Weiden, who is currently majoring in policy studies and public health, explained how embarrassing it once was to accidentally sit through the wrong class.

“I think almost 15 minutes passed by the time I realized I was in the wrong class. It was after the professor said it was time for some pre-exam when I looked around and didn’t recognize anyone. I didn’t say anything. I just got up and left. And, everyone was like, ‘OMG this girl is dipping before the exam,’ and the professor was like, ‘Okay, bye,’” Weiden said.

Not only do students sometimes struggle finding lecture halls, classrooms, and laboratories, they can have a hard time picking their seat for the next 15 weeks. Choosing a seat in each class can be incredibly stressful as well. Students must choose wisely since everybody hates the person who steals their seat after they “claim” it the first class.

With new seats also comes new textbooks. After the initial stress of scrambling up money to pay for tuition for the new semester, students must conjure up even more money to buy textbooks. Money stress weighs heavily on peoples’ health, according to the American Psychological Association. It also doesn’t help that some professors will tell you after you bought the textbook that you actually don’t need it.

All these new experiences and obstacles during syllabus week can cause students to add and drop classes as well. Students often go through the stress of sitting through one class, just to drop it. Moreover, because routines promote health and wellness, students changing their schedules only adds more pressure and tension.

Suzanne Maguire, director of Newhouse’s Undergraduate Advising and Records Office, said syllabus week can be stressful for some students, especially incoming freshmen, intra-university transfer students, and seniors, as they don’t know what classes to take, how to fit new classes into their course requirements, and if they’ll graduate on time if they take certain classes.

“I think the first week is stressful for a bunch of students because they don’t have a full schedule, and they’re anxious about getting into something and nothing is open,” said Maguire. “That’s what they say. Finding open classes and learning how to find open classes is something that they have to do and they come [to the undergraduate advising and records office] to talk to us about those types of things.”

Although syllabus week is painful, don’t let it bring you down. All that work on the syllabus isn’t due tomorrow. And, if your professor sucks, see if you can transfer into the same class with a different professor. If that class is closed, see if you can take it the following semester. If your seat sucks, try to make friends with the people surrounding you.

Jenna Wirth is a sophomore studying magazine journalism. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at jwirth@syr.edu. She can be followed on Twitter at @jenna__wirth.

Published on January 21, 2020 at 10:37 pm