Just as the 2015 freshman class has finally adjusted to life at Colorado College, an even “fresher” batch of 50 first-years have come to join the scene.
These freshest first-years, or Winter Starts, participated in a wide range of both for-credit and non-credit options during their fall semester. Some of the programs students selected this year included NOLS in the Pacific Northwest, the SEA Semester (Ocean Voyage Semester), a mentorship program at American University in Washington D.C., and the Semester in Spain program in Salamanca.
Some Winter Starts overlapped in their choices, such as with the Washington Mentorship Program with two CC students. The semester in Salamanca proved to be the most popular choice, with a total of 17 Winter Starts participating.
However, some students took a different approach, taking advantage of the free semester to pursue interests and options never before available due to the confines of the typical academic calendar. Winter Start Maddie Young spent her fall semester in the small city of Ferrara, Italy.
“I stayed with a host family, took an intensive Italian course, and taught several English classes about four times a week,” said Young. “On the weekends, I got to travel all over Italy.”
Maddie found the Winter Start program to be a perfect opportunity to fully indulge in her roots and culture, even learning how to speak Italian, a language she was always interested in.
“Overall, it was an amazing learning experience that I will never forget,” said Young.
Director of Admission Matt Bonser found that with the Winter Start program, since students are given more open space before college, they fill the fall semester with amazing things. Winter Starts are not required to fulfill any requirements before their first semester at Colorado College.
“It’s something we don’t track all that closely. Sometimes we know from conversation,” said Bonser. “There are a whole bunch of programs like that [NOLS]. Students are at home, students are working, and some students are taking courses as non-degree seeking students so that if May graduation is super important, you are up to speed credit-wise.”
Bonser also elaborated on the process of selecting and admitting students as Winter Starts, saying that these students can often be identified in the premature stages of the admissions process.
“As we’re reading regular applications right now, students sometimes mention an interest in doing Winter Start,” said Bonser. “[They] say ‘I have this thing I want to do,’ whatever that happens to be,”
The Winter Start program has offered a great deal of opportunity to Colorado College freshman. The program is still evolving and creating even more amazing ways to create your own fall semester adventure.