"I came to St. John’s during the month of January because I wanted to start the Program as soon as possible.  Having attended another college, I was not ready to begin during the fall semester.  Although not particularly scared about completing freshman year during the summer and starting sophomore year immediately after, I did have qualms about spending one year with a very small group of people.  Surprisingly enough, I discovered my fellow January Freshmen (JFs) to be extremely interesting, mature, and excited about the Program.  I appreciated the seriousness of some of my older peers as well as the energy of the young JFs who had not even finished high school.  Our eclectic group only facilitated better and deeper conversations, and I just now realize the importance of the conversations held during JF year.  I would venture to say that, aside from my senior year seminar, my freshman year seminar was one of the best experiences I have had at the College. And, best of all, to this very day in my senior year, my most pleasant lunches are those with my JF friends. Although I have developed strong friendships with other Johnnies, my fellow JFs have become something of a family with whom to carry a lifelong intellectual conversation."

- Obed Lira, SF10

"As a January Freshman, you do have a very different experience coming in than do most of the students at St. John’s.  We don’t read Aristotle’s Metaphysics, and we don’t have a summer vacation, but the program comes to life for us in a very unique way.  Every JF class has a level of intimacy that would never be possible for the fall freshman. The Program is very intense, and those of us who are just crazy enough to love that intensity tend to approach the books with courage and an urgency that is extraordinary.  Whenever I think of my JF year, I remember how shocking it was to come here and see the mountains covered in snow and to hear the frenzied yelps of the coyotes wandering the hills at night. Then I’m back in the middle of one of those beautiful thunderstorms that happen every afternoon during the summer.  I couldn’t imagine my first year of college any other way."

- Deborah Higgs, SF11