The intersession program at Hopkins provides students with a month of freedom in which they can study abroad or at Hopkins, or engage in an alternative activity of choice. While a plethora of exciting courses draws students back to campus and also abroad, participation in these programs is not required, and thus many students choose to pursue alternative stimulating activates.
One useful and thus popular independent activity during intersession is to obtain a job or internship opportunity.
Junior Kira Valiani worked last year during intersession. "I was home and wasnt't taking a class so the most productive thing to do with my time was to get a job as a phamacy technician -- a job that I had had over the summer," said Valiani.
Staying home and working at a summer job for a month can provide a supplemental cash flow that can help the extravagant spender or penniless college student make it through spring semester. Students lucky enough to find an internship for the month of January have the chance to test out a certain field for a month and add an accomplishment to their r5fsum5f of accomplishments.
Another popular activity is to travel abroad. While Hopkins offers several study abroad programs for course credit, some students choose to organize independent trips for leisure or independent study. While no credit is earned for thesetrips, the educational value of traveling is considerable even when the trip is -spent in a relaxed setting of friends or family. Popular destinations include Europe and South America.
Volunteering is an additional Intersession opportunity. Those interested in volunteering have the option of staying at home or going to a destination of choice. Several groups at Hopkins organize volunteer activities for intersession.
The Hopkins chapter of Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit Christian organization that strives to globally eradicate homelessness and poor housing, organizes an annual Intersession trip to advance the goals of the organization.
Sophomore Carleigh Connelly, who went on the trip last --year said she went on the trip because she was "too busy during the first semester to be able to go on work trips with Habitat, so this Intersession trip was the perfect opportunity to volunteer for Habitat while not having the work conflict with other things."
Last year the group traveled to Hawaii, while this year Habitat will work in Costa Rica. " It was an amazing way to spend intersession because we got to volunteer for habitat and explore Hawaii, experiencing the island from a different perspective than most people who stay in resorts," said Connelly.
In additio, if you are Jewish and have never been to Israel, it is possible to apply to travel for free to Israel for 10 days. This educational trip offers students the opportunity to see Israel for the first time and volunteer while touring the country. While many do the program over the summer, Birth Right to Israel is a popular winter trip as well.
Intersession is also a perfect time to simply relax. Be it sitting at home on your couch, building a snowman, picking up a new book, or going skiing, numerous relaxing activities entice students to spend January in a sort of bliss of relaxation that compensates for the hustle and bustle of the regular semester.
