Monday marked the first day of Summer A classes at UF and the warm, slow-moving air across campus matched the sluggish nature of campus when summer rolls around.
The Reitz Union lunch-hour rush was less than intimidating, and the UF Bookstore line that usually snakes back and forth to accommodate the droves of students at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters instead formed a short straight line. Library West's revolving door was closer to stationary.
Lynne Vaughan, director of UF Bookstores, said this is the first summer the store will be offering books for rental. She said the rental option may drive book sales down, but more books are leaving the store.
"Business has been nice and steady and what we usually expect for Summer A," Vaughan said.
The bookstore gets much busier when preview sessions start and incoming freshmen are constantly coming through the store with their parents, Vaughan said. Preview sessions begin Thursday.
Summer A classes in Gainesville mean fewer people, higher temperatures, and few new faces in sight.
While most students are using summer as a time to take a break from the fast-paced fall and spring semesters, migrating back home for the summer, others remain.
These students are here to focus on their hardest coursework, graduate sooner, repair GPAs, or even just ride out their apartment leases.
Austin O'Neill, a senior double-majoring in history and political science, will be taking constitutional law - a class he said is one of the toughest for his major - and acting for non-majors, a class he said he has wanted to take for a while.
O'Neill said his summer in Gainesville won't be one filled with action.
"Other than [classes]," he said, "I'll be playing Rock Band and getting back into shape."
