Winter Termin'

Let me clear up any confusion you have on how this Winter Term thing works. 

Don't worry about being unaware of it; I didn't completely understand how it worked until the end of my first semester at Oberlin College. It may seem like it is stressful and maybe even unnecessary at first, but I promise you it is worth it. I can't lie: Winter Term is one of my favorite things about Oberlin. There are so many benefits from it. You get all of January off, but you have to work on some type of project. This could be your own personal project or it could be something business related. Most of my friends who go to other universities have to return to their normal day-to-day college routines in January. Meanwhile, Oberlin students are CHILLING. It's important for me to elaborate on the idea of "chilling" when it comes to Winter Term, though. This doesn't mean Oberlin students slack off during the month of January. A lot of us work extremely hard on our projects and internships. Yes, some projects are more... involved than others. However, that should not take anything away from the work ethic of Oberlin students as a whole. Some of us are on our "grind," trying to better ourselves by learning from new academic and business experiences with other people. Some of us experience Winter Term in other ways. Perhaps some Obies embark on creative journeys in order to perfect their artistic or musical crafts. As long as there is a project that displays a form of self-education, you're going to be all right. 

"Since you seem to know so much about Winter Term, what did you do for your project, Jason?"

I don't mean to brag, but I worked on my brand over the break. I was able to re-start something I had created that had been on my mind for quite some time. Allow me to elaborate with a short story. This past summer, I created a website called Golden Standard Sports, which focuses on sports journalism. I posted some articles on the site, and the next thing you know, thousands of people were reading my content on a weekly basis. I was proud of my work, and I thought the website was something I would continue to focus on over the upcoming the school year. "LOL," said my football season and academic work. The End... or is it? Here's a spoiler warning: It was not the end of Golden Standard Sports. Fast forward to November, which is the month most Obies start their Winter Term applications. Here I was, wondering what I was going to do for my project. Then it hit me. The website that I abandoned needed me to return. It had been three long months since I posted an article on my website. Golden Standard Sports needed to be what it used to be, if not better. So I decided to hit two birds with one stone and make my website my Winter Term project. 

Winning at Winter Term is an Oberlin tradition. Take advantage of it!

Now my website is back in full effect. It is functioning as well as it ever had in the past, and I owe some of the credit to Oberlin College's Winter Term. Because of that opportunity, I was able to work on my website again. I decided to focus my articles on the NFL Playoffs, since that was the biggest thing going on in sports at the time. This meant that I had to write an article for these four rounds of the playoffs: the Wild Card Round, Divisional Round, Conference Championships, and the Super Bowl. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't have the time of my life writing about football for this project. The beauty of this is that while it did take some effort, it was convenient. I worked on most of my sports articles either in the comfort of my own home or my girlfriend's apartment. Winter Term allowed me to do what I love for the whole month of January without having to go completely out of my comfort zone. While I encourage the idea of trying new things, I also believe it is important to concentrate on your strengths. This Winter Term project allowed me to concentrate on one of my greatest strengths, and that strength is writing. I encourage those who are doing Winter Term projects in the future to do projects that are enjoyable. Actually, allow me to take it one step further. I believe that Obies should allow their Winter Term projects to act as a display of the capabilities they have, because if they are passionate about their projects, they may eventually discover how great they are or can be. You may know the Oberlin quote, "Think one person can change the world? So do we." That quote ties directly into Winter Term. Maybe our capabilities learned from Winter Term can change the world someday, whether we believe it right now or not. Missing all of January for Winter Term is an Oberlin tradition that I am very proud to take advantage of. Every student who has attended Oberlin College knows about Winter Term and has some kind of experience with it. Ten to twenty years from now, I might be attending alumni events with other Obies. I guarantee you that Winter Term is a topic that will be brought up at some point during the many conversations that will take place. As an Oberlin student, I implore you to do a Winter Term project that you will fall in love with. It will make the experience a million times better. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity, because every college student isn't able to miss an entire month to do something they love to do.

If you want to check out my Winter Term project, go ahead and check out my Golden Standard Sports website HERE: http://goldenstandardsports.weebly.com

If you're into Social Media, I created a Twitter page for the site as well: https://twitter.com/GSSportsTweets