By Dana Smith
Feature Editor
The holidays are coming, but that doesn’t mean school has to be put on hold. Students can enjoy their break and even earn a few more credit hours.
Tyler Junior College offers Winter Term for any students willing to register to knock out three credit hours between fall and spring semester. Though the month of December and January is spent with family and friends, students are only allowed to take one class and can still be able to enjoy the holidays due to the fact that all classes are given online. Students are able to attend class in the comfort of their own homes, turn in assignments and take tests over the Internet.
According to Thomas Elder, director of Academic Services/Registrar, students must have “self-discipline,” meaning, students should be prepared and make sure effort is being put into pass their courses.
Winter Term classes are only three weeks and still contain the same information students usually get in a 16-week course. For most students, this may be the biggest concern when trying to juggle school, work and plans for the holidays.
In fact, Elizabeth Sloan, alumni of TJC, experienced the struggle during Winter Term, but also found some good benefits.
“It’s pretty stressful,” said Sloan. “I had no time to waste time … I had to really manage my time well, and focus on getting my papers done, but I think it was worth it.”
Sloan said it wasn’t easy to manage her time with studying and spending time with her friends, but she did it. She set aside several hours in the day to do school work and then had the chance to hang out with her friends and family.
“I was definitely sleep deprived,” said Sloan. “Especially around the holidays, it can be hard because you want to enjoy the holidays.”
Though Winter Term can get very stressful and take up a lot of time, there are some good things that can come out of it in the long run.
“It helps so much to keep you on track as to graduating on time,” said Sloan. “In a way it can be good because it’s like a shorter amount of time, you can focus your time and be a little bit more motivated. It’s almost easier to set your goals ahead and not procrastinate as much.”
Winter Term is not a course that will be a breeze, but it can be done.
Most general core classes are offered and can be found on the school website at http://www.tjc.edu/winter.
Winter Terms starts Dec. 16, and ends Jan. 3. Due to Christmas and New Year’s, all classes will be put on hold Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 24 and 25, and Wednesday, Jan 1. Classes will resume and finish up by Friday, Jan. 3.
Students can register through the school website or their Apache Access no later than Tuesday, Dec. 10. Students must pay for their course by Wednesday Dec. 11. For prices and more information regarding Winter Term, call 903-510-2401 or visit http://www.tjc.edu/winter.
