Need an upgrade for 2014? Copiah-Lincoln Community College’s Natchez campus can help. Our spring schedule of special interest classes offers a wide variety of topics that you are sure to find one that will appeal to you.

These classes are low cost, casual and promise to be stress free with no tests involved.

Nancy McFarland is offering to people of all ages a chance learn the basics of one of the fastest growing trend in the country: social media. This form of electronic media includes a variety of different electronic applications, most famously Facebook and Twitter. If you are an adult and always wanted to learn what your children or grandchildren are doing on their phones and computers all day or learn how to better protect your information online, this is the class for you. This class is taught Wednesday evenings beginning Feb. 6.

Another computer-related class we are happy to bring you this semester is Shounda Ferguson’s Introduction to Microsoft Word. Word is one of the key computer programs everybody needs to know how to use, whether to write an essay if you are a student or if you’re an adult typing up an office memo. While the focus of the course is on Word and using it to type and save documents, our instructor will also dovetail into related topics such as using the Internet, using a mouse and keyboard and finding files on your computer. The class runs from Feb. 27 through April 10.

Numerous studies through the years have proven that maintaining strength and flexibility is important to our bodies, and yoga is one of the best ways to help do both. Stacy Worley will teach be teaching the Vinyasa style of yoga that focuses on controlling your breathing and posture.

Come learn how you can best maintain a healthy balance in your life, while doing this fun and relaxing activity. The class will meet on Thursdays for eight weeks from Jan. 30 through March 27.

Besides yoga, the other popular form of stress-reducing exercising is Tai Chi, which we are happy to be offering as a new course this semester. Calvin Woodfork, a long time student of Tai Chi, will take you on a 12-week journey, starting Feb. 11, teaching all there is to know about what some people call “meditation in motion.”

Just like yoga, you do not have to be in the best of shape or the best of health to undertake this worthwhile experience.

Exercising is not the only way to relieve stress. Learning how to oil paint can be a fun hobby and an excellent alternative for calming one’s self. Marilyn Jackson will guide you through the basics of painting, such as the importance of composition, color and brush strokes as you create your own work of art. The class itself begins Tuesday and runs for seven weeks.

Beginning Jan. 28, Professor of History at Copiah-Lincoln Community College Jim Wiggins continues exploring the subject of his popular lecture of last semester, the history of Reconstruction in post-Civil War America.

Starting with the beginning of Presidential Reconstruction in 1865 and going through the election of 1876, Wiggins will delve deeper into the political undertones of one of the most divisive eras of American history. Thanks to the professor’s thorough knowledge of the material and engaging teaching style, this is a worthwhile course to take, whether you took Part I last semester or not. The first night of the class is Jan. 28 and runs until April 1.

With the world being more interconnected than ever, it is important to know another language, whether you are traveling to another country, conducting research or simply interacting with people of another culture. Knowing another language, such as Spanish, can be important in obtaining a job that requires you to speak something other than English.

Shannon Rojo offers an opportunity to learn the basics of spelling in and speaking Spanish, all in a fun and relaxing environment. The class begins Feb. 12 and ends March 26.

Are you a recent or retired veteran or know a veteran? Are you aware of what benefits you or the servicemen and women you know are due through the GI Bill and other government programs? Let Tim Lea, Co-Lin’s veterans services coordinator, explain what educational benefits and other types of assistance are out there and the processes of obtaining them in this free and informative one-day course from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 18.

If you have questions or would like to register for any of these class, call Brendan Chella at 601-446-1103 or email brendan.chella@colin.edu. You can also register in the Willie Mae Dunn Library on the Co-Lin Natchez campus. Pre-registration is required.

Brendan Chella is CEU Chairman at Copiah-Lincoln Community College.