Feb. 2, 2006

War of the Words: J-Term Reviews Mixed

By JAKOB KANE LOUKAS
jkl001@marietta.edu

When I was back home discussing college life with my high school friends, they could not believe how long my vacation was. I arrived back home a week before them, and I left two weeks later. The Marietta College J-term was an unnecessarily extended vacation.

For almost six weeks, I spent my days with my PS2 and my nights out with friends. The only mental stimulation I had was one week at the Leadershape Institute for Thiel College. I think most students found themselves in the same situation. Those who worked probably only received three paychecks, and the long break encouraged some parents (mine in particular) to be even more demanding about their children’s finding a job over break.

I’m afraid to even imagine the dreadful ennui experienced by those trapped on campus. I commend the international students who didn’t venture back overseas and the few students who stayed on campus to do their jobs for bravely bearing the boredom.

Athletic teams and academic organizations lost six weeks of practice and students spent two months without any intellectual activity. It is a daunting task for students and student athletes to step into the new semester so unprepared.
The one positive factor that the J-term yielded was the successful trip to Madrid. This experience was a wonderful way for students to learn about Spanish language and culture, but they spent three weeks at home before they left. I’m sure that for them, Spain was all the vacation they needed.

By KATIE SCHWENDEMAN
kjs001@marietta.edu

J-term. For some, it meant endless slacking and bumming around. For others, it meant soaking up sights in Spain, or donating their time to the Katrina Relief project.
J-term was a fabulous idea. While I inevitably spent my J-term being a worthless bum, I nevertheless enjoyed my time off from school.

Even though the Katrina Relief project wasn't necessarily associated with J-term, the longer break was facilitating for the workers when they returned to the area. Senior Kate Gemmill had the opportunity to assist in the project. “It was nice to spend a week doing relief work and then come back and still have five weeks of vacation,” she said.

Dr. Richard Danford of the Study Abroad Program had reservations about J-term in the beginning. Danford took a group of students to Spain. Danford was worried that, "because of holidays, airfare and lodging are too expensive," but in the end, "it worked out okay." When asked if Danford would rather go overseas during the summer as opposed to during J-term, he replied, "The problem with going to Europe in the summer is that it gets outrageously expensive; airfare shoots up and hotel accommodations are a lot more expensive." Overall, Danford was pleased with J-term.
On that note, recruitment should start now for next year's J-term while thoughts of blissful J-term experiences are still running through everyone's heads.