The time warp again

Already it’s late November: almost Thanksgiving, which means the end of Fall semester will be here in a flash.

Every year I warn my first-year students about the post-Thanksgiving time warp. Every Fall, students and faculty alike look forward to Thanksgiving as a chance to rest and recuperate, and every Fall, students and faculty alike are dismayed to realize how much work awaits them when they return from Thanksgiving, the end of the semester looming large.

Every year, I tell my first-year students that semester-time doesn’t work like regular time, but every year, they don’t believe me until December, when they experience this time warp themselves. The days before Thanksgiving move at a snail’s pace, but after the holiday is over, it will feel like we’ve stepped into a bobsled.