By Sophia Albertie
Spring is in the air at SUNY Plattsburgh, and students feel more unmotivated than ever before. From the change in daylight savings to the increased talk of final exams, academic apathy is consuming students in droves during this last push of the year.
The second semester slump can make or break a college experience, even for freshmen who are just starting out. Just ask Ruth Quinal, who says she enjoyed picking out her classes for a fresh semester that she knew she would like, but feels as if she is struggling a lot more this semester and isn’t exactly sure why.
“I just don’t want to do work now, and the classes I picked are classes I knew I would enjoy,” Quinal said.
Newcomers are not spared from the restlessness that comes with staying indoors, but upperclassmen are also prone to changes in motivation, especially the closer they get to graduation.
Matt Sullivan graduates in 2026, and said he feels it’s easier to do work during the first semester because there are few reasons to leave his dorm during the winter weather.
“Every year when the weather starts to get nice, there are so many incentives not to do work and to go outside or explore parts of the campus that open up, it’s hard to focus on actual academics. It only gets harder towards finals,” Sullivan said.
Students don’t have to be particularly outdoorsy to struggle with the second half of the year. Problems sometimes arise from the duration of the spring semester after powering through the first couple of months.
Nora Bowler transferred in her Junior year and did an exceptional job her first semester, even making the dean’s list, but when the spring semester started, she said she somehow wasn’t prepared to start an entirely new semester. She didn’t do any work for the first month.
“The spring semester is really hard. You don’t go home as often. There’s more things to do on campus in the fall semester, but no one wants to go out or do anything when it’s so cold. Even when the weather gets better, people still don’t want to do their work because they want to appreciate how nice it is,” Bowler said.
Not all hope is lost, for as many negative connotations the spring semester carries, students are finding ways to power through the second semester blues. For freshmen especially, it makes all the difference being able to choose their own classes.
First year Students like Remi Lester provide a breath of reprieve in the midst of so much negativity.
“Last semester I didn’t have a choice to pick my classes, and the main reason why I like this semester so much more is because now I like what I’m doing,” Lester said.
It’s difficult to determine if the spring semester deserves so much flack, but even on the hard days, it’s important to stay motivated any way possible, and to find a balance between work and leisure.
