Summer time is here, and the livin’ is easy.

That is, if you’re not enrolled in summer classes. But if you’re anything like me, you don’t pass up the opportunity to bang out an entire semesters worth of credits in six weeks.

The summer session is broken down into three, what I like to call “X-treme semesters”: Summer A, which begins May 10 and runs till June 21. Summer B, which picks up on June 23 and runs until August 6. And Summer C, which runs through the entire length of the summer.

Summer classes are quick, but not painless. This “X-treme” education doesn’t come cheap. Your mind, body, soul and wallet are all heavily taxed during this abbreviated semester.

In order to fulfill the requirements needed to give students credit for taking these courses, they run three hours long, twice a week or two hours long three times a week.

Six hours a week of class time for just one course. That’s the same as watching four feature length films, and I don’t know about you, but I get antsy just sitting through one movie.

There are less classes, less students and less teachers during the summer session. There is also less money available for financial aid. That means if you took a class over the summer you’ll get less funding for it.

Not only that, but in order to meet the summer requirements for financial aid, students have to take at least six credits in order to be eligible. That ups the ante from six, to twelve hours a week. Twelve full hours out of the 120 in a five-day workweek. Not to mention the hours you’re left with once you factor in sleeping and driving and what not, it barely leaves any time for the insane amount of homework these classes assign.

The pace of the classes is put into high gear and so is the homework. One three-hour summer class is the equivalent of two and a half weeks during the regular semester, so the homework must follow suit. Which means you are getting two and a half weeks worth of homework assigned in one sitting.

One of my classes this term requires that we read an entire novel in under three weeks. I don’t read novels in under three weeks. I haven’t read a novel in under six months in my whole life, I haven’t even finished reading “The Outsiders” from middle school.

It’s very difficult to absorb all this information that’s being hurled at you. It’s kinda like being force-fed a four-star meal. Regardless of how it tastes, it’s hard to enjoy it under those conditions.

Even if a student does do well in his or her summer classes, they will be less likely to retain that information in the future. It’s a simple fact, the longer it takes you to learn something, the longer it takes you to forget it.

Summer sessions are for those who are brave enough to endure hours upon hours of lectures and homework each day. Those who are willing to work for the sweet reward that this “X-Treme” education offers, by battling hurricane season or the death-inducing heat that the Florida summer brings. As one of these brave souls I salute myself, and all the rest of you who are “Summer Soldiers.”