Editorial: Reimagining January Break

Every year, as finals week approaches and all of the familiar study spots get filled up with students suffering from collective burnout, another feeling also begins to settle in: the melancholy of preparing for January Term (J-term). At Amherst, this period is less of a “term” than a void — a strange, month-and-a-half stretch in which campus life pauses, community falters, and students scatter across the world waiting for the spring semester to begin. But J-term does not have to be that way. And, more importantly, it should not be.For some, J-term is a welcome exhale. For many others, it is a bit of a problem, not because a break is unwelcome, but because the break we get is so unstructured that it is unable to meet students’ needs. While Amherst’s academic environment is intellectually vibrant, it is also incredibly demanding and relentless. By December, most students begin to feel too burnt out from such an unsustainable culture, relying on J-term as the break to reset them. J-term could be the solution, but only if we treat it as more than a long pause.

We start and end later than most colleges, yet our break is somehow not particularly restful for many students. A month and a half away from campus looks like a luxury on paper. But in reality, it is often an awkward stretch of time that is too long to feel like a vacation but too short to build real stability at home. Some students — especially first-generation, low-income, international students, among others — cannot go home at all. Others go home only to find themselves bored, lonely, or itching to return, without sufficient time to pick up a seasonal job or internship. Many spend the six weeks without community, without stimulation, and without the sense of belonging that makes Amherst meaningful. J-term becomes, for many, a kind of limbo. A more intentional J-term could change that.

At peer institutions, January is an experiment in creativity, community, and play. Williams College requires students to complete month-long winter study courses each year, where students can take in-person courses including skiing, podcast production, and animal tracking, conduct independent research, or take on an internship. At Oberlin College, students may choose to enroll in one of more than 50 different faculty-and staff-led group projects. Colby College offers students blacksmithing classes and LSAT Preparation over J-term. Other colleges experiment with half-credit workshops or short, quirky electives. These schools treat January as an opportunity for growth — a unique moment in the academic year where students can learn, rest, and explore without the pressure of a full course load.

Some might like the quiet of campus in January. Keep the calm, but add half-credit/no-credit gym courses: “Winter Hiking in Western Massachusetts,” “Skiing Basics,” or “Strength Training and Injury Prevention.” Add fun academic mini-classes that don’t require a semester-long commitment: “Philosophy of Sport,” “Political Speeches in 20th-Century America,” or “Financial Literacy,” “Intro to Cooking.” Students might take courses more focused on technical skills: “Intro to Sewing,” “Basic Car Repair,” “Intro to Cooking” or even “Intro to Bookbinding.” Students could even lead courses. Imagine the campus feeling less like an empty hotel and more like a retreat. Most importantly: Imagine  students having the option to learn and rest —  in ways they choose.

Through an on-campus J-term, we could keep the best part of Amherst (our people) without the omnipresent weight of “I should be doing something productive right now.” J-term could be the one moment where Amherst feels like a college campus rather than a sweatshop. It could be a chance to rediscover a campus that many of us only experience under stress. When academics are not at the forefront of every moment, students breathe more easily. You remember why you came here in the first place. Friend groups deepen, spontaneous friendships form, and the community resets itself. Amherst talks a lot about community, but the truth is our community dissolves quickly under workload and pressure. J-term could be the reboot button — a time to rebuild student culture after a semester that stretched everyone thin. 

This is not an argument for more academics. It is an argument for a different academic model, one that embraces learning for its own sake instead of treating it as an obligation, which is arguably the point of a liberal arts education. 

As for the college, offering these courses would make logistical and financial sense. A meaningful J-term would use infrastructure we already have — dorms, dining, gyms — which sit mostly idle for six weeks. Moreover, our tuition and other fees amount to over $90,000 a year. Of course, students would like to stay on campus and make the most of their tuition, even if it means having to pay a small fee for housing.

None of this has to be mandatory. Some students do genuinely love disappearing from Amherst for a bit — seeing family, decompressing, working, and simply not thinking about school. That should remain an option. But the current system forces a single model on everyone, and each year it fits fewer students. Amherst has the resources. It has the faculty’s creativity, the facilities, and the demand. The college simply lacks the will to experiment.

Other liberal arts colleges have January programs because they choose to treat students not just as scholars but as people. They have realized that learning is not confined to 14-week boxes and that community is something you build, not something you assume.

We could give studentPostss a January that is full of possibilities. A reimagined J-term would not just fill time; it would strengthen Amherst’s community, alleviate burnout, and invite joy back onto a campus that desperately needs designated time for it. We deserve a January that reflects the spirit of Amherst.

Unsigned editorials represent the views of the majority of the Editorial Board (assenting: 11; dissenting: 0; abstaining: 0)