My college winter breaks were spent catching up on sleep and studying for finals: booorring! Students today have many more options than I did. My son, who attended Oberlin College, introduced me to their “Winter Term,” where students take a course or volunteer in an organization that has nothing to do with their normal academic pursuits. January, therefore, became a time of growth for him, and not a month of stagnation. Students in all colleges and universities have many more options than I did; study abroad programs include several opportunities for two or three weeks abroad during the semester hiatus. This has the advantage of being shorter and less expensive than summer or spring break trips abroad — and January in a foreign country is a month blessedly free of other tourists.