Whether they're new high school graduates or non-traditional students returning to the classroom, Hinds Community College's two-week mini-term in May was a great choice for students wanting to get quality coursework completed quickly.

For two moms who plan to major in education, Lou Ann Williams' physical science class with a lab fit the bill perfectly. Both Jennifer Davis, 33, of Pelahatchie and Michelle Land, 37, of Pisgah  were among the nearly 110 students who took advantage of Hinds Community College's two-week mini-term session May 19-30 at the Rankin and Vicksburg-Warren campuses.

Davis plans to go to Mississippi State University at Meridian in the fall to pursue a degree in secondary education with an emphasis in English.

"I'm a mom. It (mini-term) fits into my schedule. This class is one of the last two I can take at Hinds. I'm trying to get as many classes as I could worked into my schedule," Davis said.

Land, who plans to major in elementary education, is a first-time college student. She'll be at Hinds fulltime in the fall.

"I've got to get it done as quick as possible," she said. "I've got a son who's a junior in high school and will be a senior next year. So he's going to be in college too pretty soon. I'm trying to stay ahead of him."

Anne Bass' English Composition I class was populated mostly with recent high school graduates getting ahead on their college careers.

Mary Cathryn Reeves of Flowood and Rachel Hendon of Madison graduated from Jackson Academy and immediately took English Composition I on the Rankin Campus.

Hendon, 18, plans to attend Mississippi College this fall. "It's only two weeks and I can get it done with," she said of the mini-term course.

Reeves, 18, plans to major in biology and pre-medicine at the University of Southern Mississippi in the fall. "It's a way to get something out of the way so I can take more classes in the fall instead of worrying about this too," she said.

Five Florence High students - Matthew Owens, 17, Courtney Culpepper, 18, Jordan Martin, 18, Chris Eady, 18, and Candace Parker, 17 - actually started the mini-term class before their May 23 graduation.

Parker, valedictorian of the 2008 Florence High School class, plans to major in molecular biology this fall at Mississippi State University.

"I wanted to get composition out of the way so I could focus on my major next year," she said.

Jay Allen, dean of enrollment services at Hinds Community College, said mini-term allows students a lot of flexibility to get coursework out of the way in the summer but not tie up the whole summer.

"They can use the rest of their summer relaxing, working, doing church mission work, whatever they want to do," Allen said.


Under the FastTrack option, students can also take eight-week courses during each of the regular semesters. They can also sign up for hybrid classes, which offer a combination of online coursework and a handful of face-to-face meetings with instructors.