With my favorite holiday of the year (New Year’s) quickly approaching, Winter Term is soon to be upon us unsuspecting Oberlin students. A somewhat amorphously defined season of self-discovery, January on campus can be a bit much if one does not set out with a goal in mind (however loose that may be). Fear not, however, as this blog article will go over the dos and don’ts of the coldest month in Oberlin… or check out my retrospective blog on last year’s Winter Term!
WHAT is Winter Term?
Winter Term is a sort-of mini-semester over the course of January, where you can choose to take an intensive class taught by a professor (such as Russian, curatorial studies, or book printing) or pursue a self-guided activity so long as one has approval from a faculty advisor (which can happen on or off campus). This can encompass anything from monitoring lettuce yield in a variety of locations to creating a research project around 12th century abbess Hildegard of Bingen (one of history’s coolest people) so long as you spend at least 100 hours pursuing your project, which brings me to my first point…
DO a project you enjoy!
This is somewhat self explanatory, but bear with me. The point of Winter Term is to give you time in which only one (or very few) thing(s) are your primary focus. If you pick something which feels like an obligation, there isn’t a whole lot else going on to distract you from that thing. You have a whole month to explore something that you find interesting — go wild! I decided to look into queer representation in video games last year on something of a whim, and thanks to that project introducing me to the wide world of academic literature regarding games I have now taught a course on game music, have submitted an article abstract to an academic conference on games, and am currently in the preliminary stages of research on depictions of witches in video games for this year’s project. Go nuts with your ideas! Try something which wouldn’t come up in your normal patterns. You never know where Winter Term can lead you.
DON’T wait until the last minute!
Yes, this is something of a given (don’t do big projects in a rush, duh), but I’m also retroactively using this in regards to your Winter Term application and planning. Give yourself time to think about what you want to do, and don’t wait to either apply for a course or ask a faculty member to advise you — the former fills up quickly, and the latter is easier to switch around if, say, a professor is making a research trip to Mexico.
DO make (silly) plans!
Wait waitwaitwait before you roll your eyes and close out of the page because wow this blogger only gives tired, trite advice, hear me out. The point of Winter Term (as mentioned before) is for you to look at one thing and focus on it for an entire month. There is no larger structure of classes, regular activities, or easily accessible social networks (even if one is at home, I’m guessing not all of your friends are around for the entire month) present during the semester to pull you out of your orbit. It is easier, then, to isolate somewhat and see only yourself over the whole month. Speaking from (partial) experience, this is not fun. Last year, I mouldered in my room for the first week or so of January before hitting a bit of a wall and forcing myself to set an alarm in the morning to leave the dorm by. After that, I (re)watched several TV shows with friends (the superior, aka BBC 1995, version of Pride and Prejudice; Ted Lasso; etc.), went to local restaurants more, and read a truly staggering number of bad romance novels. This year, I have Dune on my to-be-read list, quartet rehearsals scheduled every so often, and a Lord of the Rings movie marathon planned with my friends complete with lembas bread & themed drinks.
DON’T avoid the library!
Yes, Winter Term is all about you and your interests. Yes, that can be (nearly) nonacademic, and yes, that can mean you wish to avoid the library like the plague. Great! You do you. But don’t write the place off just because it’s associated with the academic semester. Even if you’re at home (or elsewhere) for the month, the library is a great place to work or just be around other people. I’m going to put in a little plug for the Oberlin Public Library here; it’s criminally underrated by the student body. Everyone is always so cheerful, the volume level walks the balance between ambient but not dead (*cough* Mudd *cough*), and the literature selection is truly fantastic. A friend recommended Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea last Winter Term after we both went and browsed the stacks — I loved it so much, I ended up getting my own copy which now sits in a special spot on my bookshelf.
DO have fun!
No matter where you are or what you’re studying, Winter Term is a more relaxed time in the middle of the academic year. I know that the tips mentioned above seem rather obvious, but speaking from experience it is really easy to let them fall by the wayside. January can be a weird dead spot in the year, but if you keep a goal in mind it can truly be one of the most fun, eye-opening experiences Oberlin has to offer.
