Since this is Augustana’s first year of semesters, a lot of students have been having mixed emotions about J-term. A lot of my close friends did a range of things such as staying home, studying abroad, doing full time internships or taking a class. I took a class and did a part-time internship. J-term is a great opportunity to take advantage of everything Augustana has to offer.

J-term was quite the experience. Since all of the first-years and majority of sports teams had to take a J-term class, campus was more populated than expected.

Taking a three-hour class for five days a week initially sounds terrifying and stressful. However, in my J-term experience, I found extra time to relax while accomplishing many successes.

Everyday over J-term, I woke up and went to my part-time internship at the WHBF Local 4 station. After that, I went to my three-hour class, World Cinema in French, with professor Kiki Kosnick. Then, I went to work at my on-campus job. I ended my days studying and doing homework with friends.

J-term is such an amazing experience because it leads to incredible opportunities such as studying abroad and internships. While it was only three short weeks, they went by so fast and I learned so much.

My specific J-term class was very entertaining and knowledgeable. We analyzed a multitude of films that touched on heavy themes such as love, strength, race, diversity, identity and more. We had three major projects and two of them were group projects. I personally enjoyed J-term because it was also an opportunity to make new friends.

J-term is an opportunity to make honest and true connections with your teachers and classmates. After spending 15 hours a week for three weeks with the same people, excluding all the time spent together outside of class, you make bonds. Certain students even went on trips and spent over 36 consecutive hours together. Plus, not everyone’s usual go-to friends were on campus, so many people branched out to make new friends and ended up connecting a lot more with classmates and professors.

For ambitious students, I highly recommend taking a J-term next year. It is a lot of work, but if you truly take advantage of the time you have, there is so much to learn. Through my internship at Local 4, I feel like I have become much more prepared for my future career. Additionally, through my class, I learned more about my identity and myself.   

Augustana has given us a lot of things, but this J-term is the best gift of all. So take advantage of this amazing opportunity and use the time to better yourself.