Dates on Calendar are Closer than They Appear

As many of you know, when I taught college undergraduates, I came to the realization that the semester seemed much shorter to me than to my students. My own undergraduate institution still sends me their calendar. It shows the first semester as 11 full weeks not counting the final exam week -- at best 33 class days. Aside from each week costing approximately $4090/student, that's not much time. However to the students, December looks safely off in the outer distance. The current 2025 calendar pictures hi jinks on the quad in shorts and t-shirts in September, and three flips later, December features hi jinks on the quad in hats and gloves with giant snow sculptures.