Jan Term

Hi guys!

These past three weeks I’ve been on campus for Jan Term. It’s flown surprisingly fast, and I’m quite annoyed for time since I was excited to read a lot of books (I recently discovered John Irving, who is the most amazing author on the planet) and play some music and have general down time. However, all of a sudden I’m gearing up for the next semester. Though it feels like it’s gone really fast, it’s definitely been really good.

I’ve been taking the Model United Nations Simulation class with Dr. Boukhars. I had to take it in order to prepare to be a part of our Model UN team that will travel to Boston in February, but I didn’t mind because I was excited for the class anyway. It’s been really fabulous because it’s had a really good mix of mock simulations and lecture. In our mock simulations, pairs are assigned a country and we have to research our country’s position on the topic we’ll be debating–usually a problem or some issue the world faces. Then, we discuss the problem and write working papers collaboratively during the simulation. These papers have the potential to turn into a resolution.

As part of the McDaniel plan, students are only required to take one Jan Term class, and a lot of these classes go abroad, so a lot of people aren’t on campus right now. While I still miss some of my closer friends like crazy, it’s been a lot of fun getting to spend more time and eat meals with people I might not ordinarily. Also, I live in DMC (Daniel MacLea Hall) which has suite style living and none of my suitemates are here, which means that I can dance around our suite late at night and sing at the top of my lungs without disturbing anyone! I’ve also taken over our common room–I’ll have to take down my blanket fort before they get back.

Jan Term has been so much fun. In the future, I want to be abroad one year and work winter season in Yellowstone National Park another, but hopefully I’ll have a chance to do a second Jan Term class!

Ema