Over Trinity’s January Term, I decided to take a biology class called Nutrition: Foods and Fads with the incredible Professor Alison Draper. Not only did I learn a lot about nutrition, I also learned what it’s like to be on Trinity’s campus during January Term when the majority of the student body is still enjoying winter break.
There many of upsides as well as downsides to taking a January Term class at Trinity. One upside is that the college offers many interesting courses that are easy to get into. J-Term classes are accessible since you’re not competing with a large group of students to get into the class that you want. In addition, my class wasn’t focused on exams since Professor Draper’s main goal was to educate us on nutrition so that we could make informed food choices. I adored Professor Draper, who tailored lessons to our own personal diet, body, and training goals. My favorite day of the class was when the professor took us to the Hillel House kitchen and taught us how to cook a healthy meal. It was delicious, and I learned that eating healthy can be simple, fun, and yummy. There are also many benefits that come along with eating balanced meals such as feeling more awake and energetic throughout the day. I enjoyed that the class was hands-on and taught in a way that made the lessons relevant to daily life. This nutrition course was eye-opening and applicable.
On the other hand, there were a few downsides to being on campus for January Term. My main issue was the lack of food availability. Athletes who were training on campus had access to Mather for meals, but students who were on campus for class had to pay a high fee in order to eat Mather food. I opted to live off of fruity cereal, which is very ironic since I was on campus for a nutrition class. The other issue is that it got lonely at times since I didn’t have many other friends that were on campus. It felt weird being at Trinity without seeing familiar friendly faces in the dining hall and being completely alone in my quad at night for the majority of the session.
If I had a do-over, I would definitely sign up to take this class again. I had a great experience with the professor and learned a lot of information that I now apply to my daily meal choices. The only change I would make is that I would probably try to do it with a friend! All in all, I would recommend a January Term class to any Trin student. After all, winter break gets old after a few weeks when all your hometown friends start going back to school. J-Term is a great opportunity to learn by taking amazing courses with great professors.