Whether you are taking online summer courses just to get ahead or to catch up, you know the pain. There are many different reasons why they are a pain and I will list those reasons soon. But first, I just want to say that with each of these pains, there is a solution to try and combat that summer fever that you are feeling.

1. It is nice outside.

It's summer! Who wouldn't want to be outside? Sitting inside and doing homework can be hard when you just want to be at the beach! This is the time when you take initiative and do as much of your homework outside as you can. Change the way you study so that you can enjoy the weather while being productive.

2. Due dates can be easy to forget.

For me, all of the summer days run together. One day it's Sunday, and then all of the sudden it is Friday. Therefore, I forget when I have to do things, such as homework. Who thought it was a good idea for there to be due dates in summer? A way to fight this is to keep a planner and look at it! I wrote all of my assignments down but never looked at them so that didn't help very much.

3. It can be hard to balance between work, school, and fun.

All of your friends are making plans to go out right after work. They want to go to supper and a movie. You have to politely decline because you have a three-page paper due by midnight that you forgot to start. How do you balance work, friends, and homework? You can try getting as much of your homework done in the beginning of the week and reserve one to two nights towards the end to go out with friends. That way you have a set schedule.

4. They are usually fast-paced.

Usually the online summer courses are over the course of five to ten weeks instead of fifteen so they have a lot of content plugged into each week. You end up reading five chapters, taking three quizzes, and writing two papers all in one afternoon. Don't do this to yourself. Not only is it a lot to do, but then you take a whole day away from being outside and hanging out with friends. Reading a little bit before you go to bed each night is a good solution.

5. It can be very boring.

Like I said earlier, these classes are usually just reading, taking quizzes, and writing papers. When you are taking just a basic general, that can get pretty boring. The words tend to blend together and you just don't remember what you were reading. I have yet to find a way to make the work not so boring, but the best thing that I can do is just take a break every now and then to make sure I don't completely fry my brain.

Summer classes online can be boring, hard and easy to forget, but they are a very good substitution to on-campus summer school, that is another beast of its own!