“School's out forever. School's out for summer. School's out with fever. School's out completely,” Alice Cooper sang in 1972. After 32 years students are still playing this song at the end of each school year.

Buffalo State College students have many choices after this semester. Some graduating seniors will go off to graduate school and others will start new jobs in their chosen path. And there are some who are clueless as to what to do with the rest of their lives.

Graduating BSC senior Nicole Bender believed a quote by Walt Disney sums up her four years of college and her future: “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

The end of a semester is not always fun and games for college students like the Alice Cooper song celebrates. College students have responsibilities and their futures to think of.

For example, students still in school have to make choices that best fit their budgets and need for time off. Some students will attend one, two or all three of the sessions of summer school that BSC will offer. . Others will go home to work or go on vacation and recuperate after two semesters and enjoy the summer, if possible. Other students, with financial problems, will wonder how they are going to attend class next year, if they can at all with the added tuition hike that is still posing a problem for some students.

When asked about the end of the semester and the beginning of the summer, BSC sophomore Nicole Miller just sighed and shook her head: “It really means nothing to me. Everything just melds together. Work and school are a big whirlwind swirling together, same will go for summer, too.” (Miller is planning on taking summer courses.)

There are some important dates that are important for students with the end of semester and the beginning of next:

• last day of classes – May 6
• study day – May 7
• Critique and Evaluation Period (or “finals week”) – May 10 - 13
• commencement – May 15
• Summer Session A – June 1- 26
• Summer Session B – June 28 – July 24
• Summer Session C – July 26 – Aug 14
• fall semester 2004 begins – Aug 30

Email: shiele95@mail.buffalostate.edu