Josh Fortmann | Staff Writer

When I first started this article, my goal was to go out and talk to students about what they wanted to see out of J-term. I wanted to see what trips they were interested in doing and what classes they wanted to be offered while on campus. However, after actually talking to students, the tone of my article changed a bit. When I actually asked students what they wanted out of their J-term the answer was unanimous: we want it cheap and we don’t want it in January.

The first concern that the students talked about was price. While they agreed that there were a lot of awesome J-term trips, they also made the case that if they can’t afford them it doesn’t really matter. As awesome as trips across Europe or to all the hotspots in India are, they are inevitably pricey. For people who only earn a few thousand dollars a year and don’t want to take out student loans, the realm of possibility is slim. While we know the school strives to make the trips as affordable as possible, it might be time to start considering throwing a few domestic or less exotic trips in there so that all students can have access to the travel program. While they might not be as cool as some of the current trips, most students would rather travel to less fantastic locations than not be able to afford traveling at all.

The other major issue that students complained about was the timing. In all honesty, January just isn’t a great time. Many of the students I talked to would much rather have a May term than a J-term, for a variety of reasons. The first of these is weather. Unless your trip is to a tropical island, winter is a pretty crappy time to go gallivanting around the world. The second reason is athletics. Many students are forced to stay on campus due to ongoing athletics while the rest of us are free to travel. Depriving our student athletes (many of whom are also excellent students) of some the greatest opportunities of our student careers seems like a major injustice.

The final reason is internships and jobs. Starting second semester earlier and having the month of May free to either travel or work would be a great improvement. For those students who need to work or do internships during the summer months, being able to start a month earlier would give them a major leg up on their competitors. The additional time could allow them to learn more skills or impress employers and land their post-graduation job.

In the end, the students’ (and my) opinions are clear. We love J-term, but we want it cheap and we want it in May.

Photo by Tyson Domingo