October 10, 2024 | By Meliha Anthony (A25)

Touky Kim (SF26) recalls basking in the sunset and appreciating the surrounding wildlife during the summer semester of his freshman year. Time spent outdoors at the Santa Fe campus was a great way to unwind during the January Freshman program, a St. John’s enrollment option in Santa Fe that’s both challenging and rewarding. 

For most Johnnies, August is the month when students flood campus ready for an invigorating year of reading and discussion. But another group arrives in January: the aptly named “January Freshmen,” or “JF” for short. The JFs start their first term of college during everyone else’s spring semester, using summer break to complete their second semester of freshman year. Once autumn comes, they enter sophomore year along with those who began their freshman year during the previous fall term. 

“St. John’s has a unique blend of students no matter what,” says Caroline Randall, Assistant Vice President of Enrollment at St. John’s. “But I think our January Freshmen [program] is even more diverse and more unique because they are not following the traditional path a lot of other students are.”

The JF program is a good option for students in a variety of circumstances, including if they started their year at a different school and realized it was not the right fit or had other plans that didn’t pan out. For others, more time might be needed before beginning the academic year, or an ambitious high school student may want to finish early and get a head start on college.

“I was admitted as a fall freshman, and life kicked my butt, so I had to wait,” says Oliver Cipres (SF26), who was originally admitted to St. John’s Santa Fe as a fall freshman but was unable to start school that autumn due to personal reasons. “So [Admissions was] like, ‘You should come as a January Freshman; we can wait for you.’ The college made sure that I kept all my tuition and my financial aid and that I could keep every agreement we had. They were really respectful of my situation, which was awesome.” Cipres, who hails from Queretaro, Mexico, adds that many fellow international students also find the JF program to be appealing and have successfully matriculated through it at St. John’s Santa Fe.

The JF program is challenging, according to both Kim and Cipres, since students complete three semesters in just one year, with only short breaks between each. The program is not without its social challenges too, as JFs have a much smaller class during their first two semesters before joining their fall freshmen peers during the sophomore year. Yet, due to the intensity of that first year, the JFs form a bond. The group’s tight-knit nature becomes a special part of the whole experience, Cipres says: “It just felt nice to feel a little bit lost, but together with someone [else].”

Even after freshman year is over and the January Freshmen join the rest of their class, they still maintain that closeness: “Even becoming a junior, some of my best friends are still JFs,” Kim says. “It kind of feels like I have a place to go back to.”

Cipres, who shared a JF class of just 18 students with Kim, agrees: “We share something special. We go to dinner every once in a while, just to be like, ‘Hey, we did it and we made it.’”

Kim began the St. John’s Santa Fe JF program after transferring from another university. While school for him technically began in the winter, he found he particularly loved living in Santa Fe during his summer term. “It’s very beautiful over the summer,” he says, “and there’s a lot of events like Santa Fe Opera, and many parades, and many different things are happening downtown.” One of Kim’s favorite school memories is the time he and his fellow JFs got dressed up and attended the opera together as a group. Indeed, JFs are the one group who really get to experience the city of Santa Fe at its height, when summer events like Indian Market, Spanish Market, Folk Art Market, the Farmer’s Market, and the Summer Bandstand Series bring over a million tourists to this town of just 90,000.

Throughout this whirlwind time at St. John’s, Kim and other JFs also learned the timeless Johnnie skill of asking good questions even—or perhaps especially—if one is never fully able to answer them. Kim is grateful for this and knows it will benefit him for years to come.

“People would think you go into class and get answers to your questions, but sometimes we walk out with more questions. I think that’s a great thing, because you will never [fully] understand Galileo or Plato," he says. Comprehending history’s greatest thinkers can often take a lifetime—even for those like Kim who are able to tackle a year of the St. John’s Program in an unbroken stretch.

Prospective students can apply to become a St. John’s January Freshman the traditional way with a written essay or via the college’s Discussion-Based Application. “It’s a really great group to be a part of,” Randall says, “and I hope that more students will consider it.” Full details on the program are available online; those interested can apply here through December 1.