First-years surprised by Winter Term experience

Author: Cloe Shasha

First-years have been hearing rumors about Winter Term - colloquially referred to as "J-Term" - since they set foot on the Middlebury campus. While many members of the class of 2011 shared similar preconceived notions of what Winter Term would hold, students reported having a range of experiences - many of which they did not expect - during their first January at college.

Several first-years such as Margo Hennet '11, Moriel Rothman '11 and Rachel Wold '11 expected a light workload and a month of partying during Winter Term but were rudely awakened by the challenges of taking a demanding course. Because of their significant amounts of nightly homework, all three students said they had less free time than they had hoped for.

Zach Howe '11 did not imagine that he would have to spend as much time in the library as he did during January. Stephanie Preiss '11 also expected that Winter Term would be a much less rigorous academic experience than it was and that she would have more time to pursue other interests outside the clasroom.

"I thought J-Term would be a lot less work than it was," said Preiss. "But my class was serious and I had a ton of assignments."

The Winter Term course catalog offered classes ranging from Pinhole Photography to Organic Chemistry to student-led courses like Middlebury Entrepreneurs. Certain classes demanded long hours of work each night while others gave far fewer assignments. Some first-years, therefore, expected their January workload to be similar to the individual experiences they had hear recounted by their first-year counselors and other older students.

Unlike Hennet, Rothman and Wold, who had conferred with these students who had taken easier classes, Tanjila Sultana '11 assumed that she would have a heavy workload based on rumors she had heard about Winter Term from upperclassmen who had taken especially demanding classes during past Winter Terms. As it turned out, she had much more time to socialize and have fun than she had anticipated.

"J-Term was so much better than I expected it to be," said Sultana. "It was a rewarding experience after fall term and I had less work than I thought I would. But it was too short!"

Many students found their Winter Term classes to be stimulating, interesting and different from their fall term class environments. Students agreed that the ability to devote all academic focus to one class changed the learning atmosphere, giving them more time to master the subjects they studied and ultimately greater participation.

"I expected J-Term to be fun and relaxing without the stress of a full semester's workload," said Kyle Hunter '11. "J-Term was great because I took an amazing class."

"My class was intense," said Howe. "But I was thrilled with it."

Many other students also reported great satisfaction with the classes they picked for Winter Term. Part of this satisfaction can be attributed to the prevailing Middlebury attitude towards academic experimentation.

Hope Yu '11 wanted to try a completely different subject from her fall term courses, and ended up satisfied with taking a class in an area that was outside of her academic strengths. She had the opportunity to explore a field that required more of a time commitment than she would have been comfortable with had she also been taking three other courses.

Both Howe and Yu agreed that they were surprised by how stimulating the material of their Winter Term courses turned out to be. They reported that rumors of Winter Term often excluded recollection of academic stimulation.

"I wanted to do something creative," said Ashley Tyner '11. "I wanted to paint or write. I got to do just that, and I loved it."

Some first-year foreign language students - who had to continue their introductory level language classes over Winter Term - heard upperclassmen's memories of unusual or creative work during Winter Term. These first-year students did not feel that they got the same authentic "J-Term Experience." They wished they had had the freedom to choose a new and different class in the same way that Tyner did rather than continuing their foreign languages.

"I was locked in for a language," said Jonathan Kay '11. "But I would have liked to have taken something intellectually stimulating that required less work."

Over Fall Term, language student Rothman said that he looked through the Winter Term course catalog with a tinge of jealousy, knowing that he could not choose any of those classes.

But workload was not the only area that surprised many of the first-years. Students' social expectations also differed from the realities of their Winter Term nightlife.

Because of January's reputation as a party month, first-years expected to meet many new people, and they discussed the way in which friendships changed over Winter Term.

"I met new people," said Hennet. "People had more time to go to parties, so there were more diverse crowds going out this term. I got to know people that I had met once or twice but did not really know before January."

Not all first-years reported a similar social dynamic. Donny Dickson '11 found that his good friendships grew stronger and that the people he did not know as well fell off his radar.

"I did different activities over J-Term, so I met some new people through those activities," said Dickson. "But if anything, my close friendships got stronger, and I spent less time with the people that I was not as close with."

The expectations that first-years had of Winter Term relied mostly on campus-wide stereotypes and less on an in-depth investigation of older students' previous Winter Term memories.

Overall, first-years left Winter Term happy and a few students reported having the "J-Term Experience" exactly as they had imagined it.

"J-Term was great," said Jon Campbell '11. "I had plenty of time to ski and do other activities."

"I could do whatever I wanted over J-Term," said Max Benjamin '11, "and it was a party the whole time."