Now that January is approaching, many students will be taking advantage of the multitude of J-term study options. I highly encourage every student to spend at least one January studying instead of taking a break from school; not only will it be an academically and socially rewarding experience, it can be a whole lot of fun!

The first step in making sure that you have a successful J-term experience is determining exactly what you want to do. There are several options. Probably the most common is just taking a J-term class. This is very similar to taking a class during the semester, with a few notable differences. First, obviously, is the shorter length of the class. Because you only have one month to complete the class, you’ll be going to it more often and for longer periods of time. You might go four or five days a week, and anywhere from three to five hours at a time (depending on how your school does it; there is a lot of variation). And while this may sound like way too much studying when you’re supposed to be out of school, you have to think about the class you’re taking. For example, I took an English class focused on hard-boiled detective fiction, in which we read books like The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep. How cool is that? Many departments offer fun classes over J-term, so check out the catalog and see what you can find.

Another study focused option is studying abroad. Most schools offer study abroad programs, and those that don’t can hook you up with one that does pretty easily. You can travel all over the world and study whatever you’d like. Many students at my university studied theater in London, theology in Rome, and business all over Europe. I studied ghosts and monsters in 19th-century British literature in the UK. You have all kinds of options, both in classes and destinations. Some programs even travel through different areas, so you may be able to see several different countries over the course of a month. To find a study abroad program, check out www.studyabroad.com.

Another great J-term option is the service-learning trip. This is less focused on academic learning and more centered around volunteer service. You could be building houses in Mexico, helping out at a school in Tanzania, or doing natural disaster cleanup in South America. There are many service-learning organizations that take J-term trips with college students—ask around your campus, and you’ll be sure to find at least one that you can hook up with.

No matter what you do over J-term, I recommend making the most of it. Take one or two to do nothing (you deserve it), but use the rest of them to do something beneficial for yourself and others. Maybe it’s studying, maybe it’s serving, or maybe it’s something completely different. What have you spent your J-terms doing? Leave comments below and let us know!

There’s no denying it now. No matter where you live, winter is here. Most of the country has seen some snow, and those that haven’t are getting cold (well, relatively, anyway). Most college students are done with finals by now, or will be very shortly, so it’s time to get outside and enjoy the winter! You may be thinking, “Enjoy winter outside? Why would I do that? I’d much rather be inside!”

Many people go into a sort of hibernation during the winter and hide out inside throughout the cold months. And this is certainly a viable way to go about it. There’s something to be said for grabbing a good book and parking yourself in a chair for the day. But if you do this all the time, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities! Winter, even though the weather can be nasty, is a great time to do outdoor activities. You just have to know which ones to go for.

Something that a lot of people forget about once they get out of elementary or middle school is sledding. When was the last time that you went sliding down a hill on a flimsy piece of plastic? It’s probably been a long time. But do you remember how fun it was? You can buy a sled for a couple bucks (or make your own—large lunch trays work pretty well), find a hill near your house, and go for it! Get a group together and get out for a couple hours. You’ll be surprised at how much fun you have.

Another activity that you may not have done in a few years is ice skating. Whether you’re good at it or not, it can be a really fun time. Yes, you might fall a few times . . . but so will everybody else! Unless you’re friends with several people on the hockey team, it’s pretty likely that no one will be a very proficient skater. Many skating rinks have student nights when you can rent a pair of skates for a few dollars, and if there’s a skating rink on your campus, you may be able to rent skates and get on the ice for free (if not, it should be very inexpensive).

One great winter activity needs little explanation: the snowball fight. Whether it’s organized or impromptu, throwing snow at your friends and family is awesome. It’s just that simple.

In addition to all of these classic activities, I encourage you to get out and try something new this winter. Rent cross-country skis or snowshoes, and spend an afternoon at a state park. Try skiing or snowboarding. Do something that you do in the summer—throw a frisbee or a football, or go for a run—in the snow instead of inside. Just start trying things, and you’re bound to find a winter activity that you enjoy!

Just like staying involved in your high school, staying connected with your college—both while you’re there and after you graduate—is both rewarding and important. And while the two have several things in common, there are different ways in which you can maintain your level of involvement in your college campus. Because of the great differences in how high schools and colleges are run, you’ll have to go about the process a little differently.

One of the more immediately obvious differences is the way in which you’ll find out about opportunities for involvement. Because universities are so much larger than high schools, there’s almost sure to be a volunteer coordinator or another similar person working there. A good way to go about finding this person is to contact your college’s office of alumni affairs or alumni council (both of which you should be able to find on the school’s website fairly easily). Someone in this group will be able to direct you to who you need to talk to.

After you talk to the correct university representative, you’ll probably start noticing another significant difference between high school and college in this respect: in college, it’s much more organized. In high school, it’s often pretty informal, and you can just walk in and start helping out somewhere. At the post-secondary level, you’ll probably be placed in a very specific place to do a more specific task. You’ll still have the choice of what you want to do, of course, but it’s likely that the options will be tailored to the needs of the school. It’s also fairly likely that you’ll be working in a group; groups of alumni often gather to do some sort of service project for their college.

Alumni organizations are also good ways to get involved. Many alumni groups organize regular volunteer sessions at their college, and you can hook up with them by contacting your alumni office and asking about organizations that stay involved with the school. It’s often easier to do it this way, because you might know a few of the people that you’re working with, and at the very least, you have something significant in common. A lot of these groups use Facebook or another online social networking tool to stay in touch, and this makes it really easy to find out about events that you can take part in.

However you get in contact with your school or an alumni group, it’s good to get out there and give back to your school. You’ll be working for a good cause, get to meet other alumni from your college, and have fun. So, whether you’ve graduated already or not, find out about doing some volunteer work around your campus. You’ll be glad you did.

College students have varied opinions of their high schools. Some have a great deal of pride in them; others don’t look back at all. Some stay in contact with their high school friends and teachers; others cut their ties when they leave for college. However you feel about your high school, there are many ways in which you can stay involved and give back to it.

Why stay involved? There are many reasons, most of which have to do with helping the school and the faculty that have helped you out over the past four years. And while you may not think right now that they did anything to help you, it’s possible that you’ll change your mind in six months (or a few years). Try to imagine what it’s like to be a high school teacher or administrator. You get up every day and go to work, where hundreds, if not thousands, of teenagers are waiting for you. And they’re usually not very cooperative (and often not friendly). But you still do it every day, because you want to help them move on and improve their lives. Sound like a tough job? It is. It’s people like these that make big differences in lives, and it behooves every high school graduate to give back to their high school.

If nothing else, it’s good to stay involved in your high school so that you can help out the students there. They’re probably thinking the same thing you were—that they’d rather not be in class, that the teachers don’t like them, and that administrators exist to give them trouble. Wouldn’t it be nice if a former student could talk to them, even if just to sympathize? You, like the teachers, can make a difference in these students’ lives.

So giving back to your high school sounds like a good idea. How do you get started? Different schools allow different levels of involvement, so it’s important to talk to someone at the school first. Call up the principal or another high-level administrator (if your high school is large enough, you might even have a volunteer coordinator or some other such person to talk to) and ask them how you can help out. Maybe you can be a chaperone at a dance, or stop into a classroom once a week to help out one of the teachers that you liked a lot. Or you could be a gym monitor over a lunch period. Some athletically inclined alumni will get involved in a high school sports program that they participated in as a student. I know people who have gone back to help coach a team that they were on many years before.

Regardless of how you give back, you will be greatly appreciated, and you will make a positive difference in the lives of the students, the teachers, and the faculty at your high school. And isn’t that reason enough? Call up your high school today and see what you can do to help out.

“Volunteering” is a bit of a nebulous term, and is used by a lot of people in many different places. You’ve almost certainly heard it when someone’s talking about college applications, saying that volunteering is very valuable on resumes and applications. Same goes for scholarship applications. Many colleges require some time spent volunteering to graduate. Some employers strongly recommend that you serve others in some capacity. Great, right? You want to get out and help somebody (whether it’s for altruistic motives, or to make it more likely to get accepted to the school you want). How do you get started?

Fortunately, finding volunteer opportunities is pretty easy. You usually don’t have to look very far to find quite a few ways that you can get involved right away. Local community groups (clubs, and such) are good places to start, especially if you’re already involved in one. Faith communities are also known for taking part in a lot of volunteering. Talk to someone at a local church and ask how you can help. Schools, from elementary schools to colleges, also usually have many volunteering opportunities, both inside their walls and without. Call any one of these places and ask about volunteering, and you’ll be sure to get a quick answer.

If you have to look a little farther away, using a website like 1800Volunteer.org can be very helpful. You can look for opportunities both by location and by keyword, so if you’re interested in a particular cause, you can find groups that you’re interested in helping out.

Finding a cause that you believe in is a great way to make sure that you’re interested in your volunteer opportunity. If you don’t really care about what you’re doing, you won’t be very engaged, and your volunteering will drag on, and you won’t feel very accomplished when you get done. If you find an issue that you feel strongly about, however—something like the environment, a particular political party, kids, or a marginalized social group—you’ll be much more inclined to work hard, come back in the future, and feel good about what you’ve done. So think about what you feel strongly about, and find a group whose interests are aligned with yours.

After you find an opportunity, it’s time to get out and do it! It can be a lot easier if you have a group of friends or family that are willing to volunteer with you, so ask around and get a crew together. Even if it’s just one or two other people, it will make it a lot easier. You’re bound to meet at least a few other cool people while you’re serving, but having someone else along can ease the process. Be open to talking to others and meeting new friends! You can learn a lot from the people that you’re working with, and you may even forge some new friendships that will last a very long time.