After May has passed, most university students are holding vacation tickets in hand and embracing the summer of rest that lies ahead. However, for some students, this is the moment to gear up for another semester - or two. Recent graduate student, Salvatore Genova, happens to be one of those students.

 Genova, having graduated on Sunday, May 12, 2011, with a B.S. degree in Science and Technology, mathematics options, set aside his cap and gown to prepare for more textbooks. As a student within the NJ Center for Science, Technology and Mathematics (NJCSTM) program, Genova has known the intensity of an accelerated academic program. As Genova now rounds his final year, he hopes to earn his M.A. degree in Instruction and Curriculum, he is utilizing the strategy of summer courses to ease the load.

 Enrollment in summer courses is considered to be one of the most effective ways to assure graduating in four years, or sooner. Students are able to take up to six credits during both summer session one and two, and with that twelve credit completion, students can easily shave off what is considered an entire full semester. Traditionally, summer courses are approximately six weeks in length, though the cost of credit is higher than that of a Fall or Spring semester. To alleviate this burden, financial aid has become available to students who are enrolling into either Summer session with at least 6 credits taken in the same semester.

 The condensed material and brief duration of summer courses are just some of the benefits Genova highlights. While Genova admits that the compromise of offering up some well earned summer relaxation can sometimes be a negative, the flexibility of summer courses is hardly an interference.

 "I would definitely suggest taking night courses; that way you still have all your summer days to do as you please," Genova advised prospective summer students. "You can easily go to thebeach and still make it back in time for class. Also, class gets out early enough allowing you to go out afterward and not have to worry about getting up early for class the next morning. Just remember to tell yourself ‘It's only 6 weeks and then I'm free'."

 Like other students of the ‘balanced life,' Genova offers this advice while still being an example of hard work ethic; noting that even while taking summer courses, he has held two jobs.

 Genova has taken summer courses during his undergraduate years as well and regrets that he only experienced their usefulness so late in his academic career. Genova suggests what few students know as a stratagem for keeping one's GPA up: take more demanding or challenging courses during the summer sessions. This tactic allows students to segregate the more difficult courses from others, while also enduring them in a shorter time frame. Genova has experienced that this often results in better grades.

 Undertaking a full summer's load, Genova is set to wrap up his Summer session one courses, STME 5610, a graduate seminar for NJCSTM students, and EMSE 5325: Diagnosis and Remediation in Mathematics Education, while preparing to begin his Summer session two courses – SPED 5024: Differentiated Instruction in the Inclusion Classroom and EMSE: 5220 Teaching Mathematics Curriculum.

 With this load out of the way, Genova will soon be ready to wear his second cap and gown -- come May 2012 -- upon the completion of his M.A.