Jen Willette (05) had one last history course to take before graduation. The class that she took during January-term 2005 to fulfill that requirement ended up being one of her favorite and most memorable classes at ENC. 

Jen, along with the other students in Carla Lovett’s Holocaust J-term course, traveled to Washington, D.C. for the first weekend of the course to visit the Holocaust Museum. As soon as the class arrived in Washington, D.C. they chose a “passport” that was provided by the museum. Each passport consisted of a photograph, biography, and brief story of a person who was part of the Holocaust. Throughout the course and their time in D.C., the students were supposed to think about what they learned as it pertained to the person that they had chosen. 

Being given the opportunity to look at the Holocaust as an influence on a specific individual’s life made a great impact on Jen and her classmates. She said, “Going to the Holocaust Museum and being able to do some research there was incredibly crucial to the course. Without it, the class would have been meaningless and certainly would never have made the research or whole learning experience so personal and heart-wrenching.” 

They spent two days exploring the Holocaust Museum and also had time to spend sightseeing around Washington, D.C. Students that may not have otherwise socialized with each other very much found themselves becoming closer and forming deeper bonds. “After the first weekend and our trip, we had bonded so much in the van rides and through hanging out and visiting the museum in D.C. that the whole rest of J-term we weren’t just classmates; we had also become friends.” 

Although Jen said that she wanted to take this class for her “own enjoyment and learning pleasure,” it was a hard class that tested her emotions and made the Holocaust a reality to her. “It was a very hard class,” she said. “Many of us cried a few times, but it was one of my favorite and probably my most memorable class I took at ENC.”