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Trees covered in snow from campus

Last week, I finished the rest of my final assignments and began my winter break, or, as it's called at Dartmouth, my winterim (winter + interim)! In this post, I want to share a bit about what winterim is, what I'm using that time to do, and how winterim works alongside the D-Plan to enrich the Dartmouth experience!

Winterim is a 6-week long break that begins just before Thanksgiving and ends right after the New Year. This gives Dartmouth students the unique opportunity to have a long break that stretches across the holiday season, whereas most other schools would have a Thanksgiving break and then a separate winter break starting in late-mid December. As someone from the Midwest, I'm a big fan of this timeline – if I went to a school with a brief Thanksgiving break and a continuation of the term afterwards, I probably wouldn't be able to afford flying home for Thanksgiving every year because I would have to travel right back to Hanover a few days later. Additionally, this longer chunk of time gives plenty of room to spend time with family and also work on personal projects and goals.

This winterim is less eventful than breaks I've had in the past – for example, last year in December I traveled to Washington DC to help record a podcast on Middle Eastern affairs for one of my professors. This year, I'm applying for some research grants for the winter, solidifying plans for my off-term in the spring, and producing a promotional video for a local Jiu Jitsu gym in Chicago. The extended winterim break gives me lots of time to think hard about how I want to spend my time for the upcoming year, and now as a junior makes me think about how I can set myself up for success after Dartmouth. Additionally, by not having to worry about assignments or deadline for an entire six weeks, I can devote all of my energy towards personal projects and goals!

A photo of the white house in Washington, DC
Here's a photo I took last interim when I was in DC!

Winterim pairs especially well with the D-Plan due to the fact that it provides a large cushion of time to either extend the fall term or plan for future terms. For example, many study abroad programs start later in the year and extend into the winterim, so that students can take advantage of more programs at more universities. In addition, lots of students' performing arts and outdoors groups take advantage of the winterim to travel around the country together, fully funded by Dartmouth! For example, one of my friends is kayaking the Rio Grande this December with the Ledyard Canoe Club - the opportunities to try new things during winterim are endless. 

I'll continue blogging throughout winterim, so I hope I can keep my page fresh with updates about what I'm up to as the year comes to an end!

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