From going abroad, experiencing an internship or taking an on campus class, many McDaniel College students stay busy during winter break by taking one or more January Term classes.
Every student on campus is required to take at least one "Jan term" class, which is an intensive course, taken over winter break, where students explore their interests. One Jan term is included in the school's tuition, but there are additional fees for some classes, such as study abroad courses.
Each student earns between half of a credit to two credits for taking a Jan term class and are encouraged to take one where they can explore their interests, no matter their major of study.
Depending on the year, students could take a course about correctional facilities, debate politics in Cameroon, or snorkel and dive off a remote Bahamian island.
About 491 students stayed on campus to take a course or participate in an internship this year from Jan. 3 to Jan. 23. The spring semester begins Jan. 28.
The Times explored four classes being offered on campus during the 2013 Jan term.
Badminton
The daily Jan term class, filled with students from a variety of majors, started out with a demonstration from instructor Gregg Nibbelink.
He showed the class different serves and offensive and defensive strategies. Before they all started playing, he would demonstrate clears, drop shots, put away or kill shots, smashes and drives.
The class is offered in a condensed time frame for Jan term but is also offered on an every other day basis during the fall and spring semesters.
"I think it's better that they can play every day because I can see their skill level develop," Nibbelink said.
The class aims to make the sport more aggressive, which often inspires the students to get involved with intramurals.
For many students in Nibbelink's class, badminton wasn't the only Jan term class they were taking. Junior Sarah Marshall took badminton after her Civil Religion in American Society Jan term class in the morning.
Physical education classes do not meet the two-credit Jan term graduation requirement, but do allow students to earn class credit.
"It's actually been really relaxing," she said. "It's fulfilling my gym requirements too."
As a newcomer to the sport, she learned a lot of techniques that she never knew existed in badminton.
Sophomore Eliza Dezenhall has been playing the sport since she was very young, but since starting the class, she now feels like she knows the sport even better.
"It's really fun and competitive," she said. "It's fun to have different partners and learn how people play."
Roots:
Discovering your past
Other students on campus worked to dig up the past both by documenting those buried at a Frederick cemetery and by looking up information digitally.
Senior Walter Henderson didn't know much about his family history, especially on this mother's side of the family.
"I thought taking this class would help me figure it out," he said.
He knew his parents met in the Dominican Republic. With only his great-grandfather's name to go by, he found the man's death certificate through an online search.
What he was surprised to learn was that his great-grandfather was an American citizen, born in North Carolina. He went to the Dominican Republic, however, and never came back.
"It's just really interesting to know where your roots are, where you came from," Henderson said. "I get to share that with my family."
Chemistry professor Richard Smith is guiding 14 students again this Jan term through searching for their own family histories. He is also piecing together the history of those laid to rest in the John Wesley Church cemetery in Libertytown.
Every year his class explores another undocumented, sometimes unmaintained old black cemetery and uploads the information they can find onto his website http://www.frederickroots.com, a resource for researching the history of the black families of Frederick County. Smith's class worked in Mount Olive Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery near New Windsor last year.
The students realize how important it is to learn about their own family history and enjoy helping build up the database for other people, he said. There are often hindrances to researching black ancestry, such as slavery, he said.
"We're putting another brick in the wall," Smith said.
Junior Patricia Woodward has been researching her family history for many years and has information back to 1014. Even with all that knowledge, the course has taught her the importance of sourcing her family research.
She was surprised to see that the black cemetery was so neglected since it is such an important part of history. She hopes to help clean it up even more, Woodward said.
"I think it's a dishonor to the people who have passed that their graves were so neglected," she said.
Coping with stress
After reading aloud their imaginary eulogies, students in the Coping with Stress Jan term course prepared the classroom for a yoga session Wednesday.
The eulogy exercise was a way for students to visualize their futures and what they wish to accomplish.
"People who have goals are much more likely to accomplish things than people who don't have goals," said Paul Mazeroff, psychology professor at McDaniel College.
The exercise was one of many that students took part in during Mazeroff's three-week course that examined the psychological and physiological aspects of stress.
Students are under a lot of stress, so he started the class as a way to teach them how to manage it for the rest of their lives. Now it's a very popular Jan term option, he said.
"I thought it would be a nice opportunity for them to do real, practical work with managing stress," he said.
The students go through stress assessments and can experience acupuncture, mindful eating exercises and hypnosis if they would like. They also are challenged to take on a stress management technique on their own time, such as yoga or exercising. But it had to be an activity that was new to them.
Junior Joshua Fletcher said he signed up for the class because he intends to be a football coach, which will be a very stressful position. The most beneficial stress reliever he has learned was breathing exercises, he said.
A meaningful part of the class for sophomore Annie Brown has been trying to figure out her life goals. She enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and would often bring her yoga mat to class to be comfortable during the different stress relieving exercises.
"I thought this class would be a fun and practical way to fulfill my Jan term requirement," she said.
Landing that internship
Junior Allison Sokolik was looking for an internship but had no idea how to find one. Now that she has taken the Landing that Internship Jan term, she knows exactly where to look.
She started a LinkedIn profile, which is a professional networking site, and also has explored other job sites.
"It's really helpful," she said. "I'm looking for one in a national park."
The course, taught by Julia Jasken, Director of the Center for Experience and Opportunity, and Amanda Blankenship, Associate Director of Internships and Career Exploration, was launched for the first time this year.
The course provides students with knowledge about the process of researching and applying for internships and provides them with strategies for succeeding in the workplace.
The class has received visits in person or via conference call by different McDaniel alumni willing to share their professional experiences and give advice concerning interviewing or job conduct.
The class teaches students that they should be strategic about the internships that they pursue.
"It's really a feeder for them into a full-time career a lot of times," Jasken said.
The course has students conduct an interview on video and then analyze their performance. They also develop a professional multimedia portfolio.
The students have responded well to the course and know it's beneficial to think about their futures, Jasken said.
"They realize this is an important thing for them to be doing," she said.
