On Thursday, Feb. 16, students and faculty gathered in the Robins Room of Roberts Hall to hear from six students who were awarded Freeman Grants to pursue internships in East Asia over JanPlan and one student who conducted an independent study.
As the College community ushered in the new semester last week, it also welcomed back many students who were abroad for the JanPlan, some who had been working for international organizations.
A new JanPlan course entitled Multicultural Literacy allowed students to explore a variety of forms of diversity both on and off the campus, with the hopes that such a course could eventually become a requirement for all first-year students.
Some students decide to spend time in the lab or reaching out to the community instead of relaxing during JanPlan.
Despite the wide range of courses and recreational opportunities offered to those on the Hill during JanPlan, a recent poll conducted by the Echo shows that students also use the month as a time to consume more alcohol. The amount of money spent on alcohol and the time devoted to its consumption has seen a tremendous increase during this period of a month relative to the normal semester. Despite this trend though, only two alcohol-related hospitalizations occurred during the month.
Nick Cunkelman '11 spent part of JanPlan covering the Winter X Games in Aspen, CO for The Ski Channel.
In the October 1962 issue of Liberal Education, then President of the College Robert Strider described the Colby January Program as: "A month of the college year devoted to independent study by the student body, on a diversity of subjects, creates a new outlook on learning and offers the faculty an unusual release for routine."
When Associate Professor of Music Steven Nuss saw a PBS television special on the Gandhi Ashram School four years ago, he knew that going there was something he had to do. Now, each January, Nuss takes 21 students to Kalimpong, a small town in the foothills of the Himalayas in the North-East corner of India for what is officially known as MU267. Those who have taken the course, however, know it as a life-changing experience.
At 11:00 a.m., I left class for lunch.
At 11:30 a.m., I coincidentally played a German board game with friends.
By 3:00 p.m., I was fast asleep.
