Photo by Nicole Maselli ‘14 | Photo Editor
As Lafayette students return to campus after a nearly seven-week long interim period, the feelings looking back on the break are mixed.
For many students, interim can be long and tedious, and by the end of it, students are prepared to return for their spring semesters.
“I’m always really excited for break to start,” Allison Greene ‘16 said. “But after five weeks, when all of your friends [from home] go back to school, [it] can get very boring.”
On the other hand, many students take advantage of the length to take part in experiences that are only offered over the long interim session. Some Lafayette-specific opportunities during this large amount of free time between first and second semesters include such as interim classes, externships and Alternative School Break Club [ASB] trips. This, the College says, allows students to gain exposure to new fields of interest.
Camila Moscoso ‘16 filled her January with these activities. As part of an externship, Moscoso shadowed an OBGYN at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City for a week.
She also took part in a weeklong ASB trip to Tennessee, during which the group was involved with “a variety of forms of service, including restoring hiking trails, clearing Cherokee graveyards [and] visiting the elderly,” according to Moscoso. She believes that the length of Lafayette’s break is beneficial because it allowed her to have the chance to relax and be productive and gave her “a lot of time to prepare for the spring semester”—and, on top of all of that, to spend time visiting family as well.
However, students at other universities with shorter breaks believe that a shorter length has more advantages. Billie Case, a sophomore at American University in Washington, D.C., feels that “because our break is shorter, we finish our semester in very early May, which allows us to have an advantage in the job or internship market for the summer.” She also believes that if American’s five-week long break was made longer, “the transition back into classes [would be] harder.” American, by comparison, also offers the chance for students to take school-run trips over winter break.
Despite some positives of a shorter break, Moscoso still believes that the “long break is a great opportunity to explore different activities, learn more about yourself, and to feel refreshed before the new semester.”
