Summer quarter is the best. The halls are empty and the parking spots are plentiful.

When I was young, from elementary school to college, I hated summer school. How cruel it was to be locked in a classroom all day, while the sun peered through the window calling my name. I used to be afraid of missing out on things because of my commitment to my education during what should have been a welcome and deserved break.

Now, as I approach my last quarter as an undergraduate student here at Cal State East Bay, I have begun to realize the summer session is by far my favorite.

Instructors have far fewer classes to choose from than they do in other quarters, which is helpful because they have a lot more availability to talk to you about issues that arise during the term. According to the MyCSUEB website, there are 155 undergraduate in-person classes offered in the summer 2017 quarter, while the fall 2017 quarter has more than 400 sections offered for in-person classes.

Classes are still pretty full, but I don’t have to worry about navigating my way through a crowd on campus or in the parking lot. Campus often looks like a deserted ghost town–minus the tumbleweeds–early and late, with a rare rush of midday activity.

With more than 16,000 students here at East Bay, there must be a fraction of this number here in the summer. In fact, the Executive Director of Financial Aid at East Bay, Rhonda Johnson, confirmed to The Pioneer earlier this year that just more than 7,000 students attended the summer session in 2016. The dorms are empty and the campus events are far and few between, so I guess the summer does have its downside.

However, I would trade a free concert or a free giveaway in the quad for an empty campus every time. Growing up as an only child, I learned to enjoy and value my personal time. At school in the fall, winter and spring, the campus is filled with students, staff and faculty, which means private time is hard to come by.

It makes me appreciate small schools and the community college I transferred from where even at peak times, the campus had a fraction of the students that CSUEB has.

It’s refreshing to pull up to campus five minutes before class begins, find a parking spot right by the building and not have to navigate through crowded paths and hallways to reach my destination.