Immediately following spring semester and preceding summer school is a two-week period known as Intersession. Fortunately for the students at Missouri Southern, special courses are available during this interval.

Not all colleges offer Intersession classes. My undergraduate school did not have them, leaving me unable to take Intersession courses till graduate school. Fellow students recommended Intersession classes because of their reputation as easy A’s and GPA boosters. However, Intersession also offered unique courses that could not be taken any other time of year.

Intersession at MSSU consists of one and two credit classes taken Monday through Friday the weeks of May 19-23 and May 26-30. Classes meet for about three hours a day. Students may take one Intersession course per year. Registration for Intersession starts mid-to-late April – the same time students would register for summer school classes. If students need additional information about any course, they can at the very least contact the office of the department offering the course. Intersession classes have their own schedule that will be available soon at the registrar’s office.

For example, this May I am teaching the same class as last Intersession, ENG 298 Movie Narrative. A student from last year’s course, Darci Price, said of the class and Intersession, “I was shown movies I had never even heard of and grew to love some of them. Intersession was a great way to get easy credit in a few short weeks.” Her classmate Matthew Porte said the class “was a real eye-opener in terms of how to critically analyze a movie for its content. I really liked our discussion of each film and how it could potentially relate to our lives.” Their classmate Jason Bogue said of Intersession, “Just two weeks and you hammer out the class, and you still have a summer free for yourself plus additional hours under your belt.”

It cannot be stressed enough that students should add to their university experience by taking Intersession classes.If a MSSU student is going to be in town during the last two weeks of May, there is little reason not to take an Intersession course.