The month of January may be a drab time at some colleges, but at Calvin it’s filled with colorful experiences. Interim is a unique academic period when students have the opportunity to focus on a topic that really interests them. Trips, classes and lectures, no matter what the theme, give students a wider view of the world — a common goal for any liberal arts institution.

The list of opportunities is an extensive and varied one: conversations with diplomats, international trips and classes about plants, humor, math, music and so on. With dozens of classes offered, Interim provides many opportunities for students to expand their realm of thought and experience.

Kenzie Krumm, a junior, reflected on her Interim course: “I took the Inside the January Series course, which gives students the opportunity to discuss the January Series speakers and topics more thoroughly.”

Professor Karen Saupe, who taught the course, enthusiastically engaged the students in deeper dialogue about each of the topics. Saupe called the course “a liberal arts education in 15 days.”

Krumm enjoyed the diversity of the course. “There were so many different topics that we were encouraged to explore and challenge ourselves with. It really was a crash course in everything. I feel like I understand a bit more on all the subjects — familiarity with the National Parks Service, the Ebola crisis, Russian affairs, Palestine-Israel relations. While the topics themselves were very diverse, in class we were able to explore the common themes that each speaker brought.”

During their dialogue with each day’s speaker, the class connected on a personal level with the January Series guests. Krumm appreciated the insight the speakers provided and the encouragement and inspiration their lives became to her. “For example, we would often ask each speaker where their hope comes from. Many of these speakers are challenging seemingly impossible situations — Laurie Garrett and infectious diseases, Eboo Patel and interfaith learning, Bethany Haley Williams and child soldiers — and it was so encouraging to hear how they faced each day despite the challenges ahead. Throughout Interim I was constantly being reminded that the world is so much bigger than I realize. I was reminded of the greater picture and God’s purpose for the world. And while I’m just one out of a billion, I can make a difference.

Krumm was surprised and delighted by the discourse she engaged in with her peers. “I didn’t expect to enjoy simply listening to my classmates’ opinions. It was so encouraging to hear how fellow Calvin students were inspired and share about what work they were already involved in. Our generation has so much potential. I hope we make the best of it.”

Interim is also prime time for travel. Many students take the occasion to enjoy the experience they gain from an extended trip and exposure to a new location and community.

Sophomore Janelle Conti flew to sunny Hollywood, Calif. The group of travelers ranged from sophomores to seniors; they studied and experienced firsthand the Sociology of Hollywood. Conti said that their group toured “major motion picture studios such as Warner Brothers and Universal” among many other activities and tours. They learned about the history of Hollywood and its evolution into the media-production-machine it has become. Conti appreciated learning about the variety among people groups, religions and social classes in the Hollywood community.

She reflected on the most meaningful lessons she learned while in Hollywood: “I think that the biggest thing that I learned through this trip is that everything is not as it seems. Living in such a media-saturated world, I guess I didn’t realize that I was just passively consuming media content without discerning the messages that were being imposed on me.”

Conti also mentioned her realization that Christianity and the entertainment business are not mutually exclusive: “The biggest lesson that God taught me on this trip is that people of faith can work and exist in places like Hollywood. For some reason, before this trip I thought that faith was basically non-existent in Hollywood. … However, being able to visit Hollywood churches and see how those congregations were living out their faith in a secular culture was awesome.”

The value of traveling with other Calvin students and experiencing the trip together made it that much more meaningful for Conti: “If I had taken this trip on my own, I wouldn’t have been able to think critically about Hollywood and see beyond all of the smoke and mirrors. … I think what’s great about this Interim trip was that along with the information that we learned prior to going to Hollywood, we were really able to learn through observation and experience.”

“[Interim] makes you pause from the daily grind and focus on another part of the world that you haven’t been exposed to,” Conti said.

John Spykman, a junior, took the opportunity to travel to India during his Interim.

“Our course was called Business as Mission in India. We studied the way Christian business people conduct themselves and run their businesses in India.” Many business majors went, but there were also students from a number of different departments on the trip.

Spykman described the main objective of the course: “We met daily with people in business and had discussions to learn about their career paths, their business and how their Christian faith influenced the way they conducted themselves in business.”

He mentioned the hustle and bustle of crowded cities in the “beautiful developing country” of India: “The number of people everywhere and the chaos of traffic was a shock almost every time we were out in the cities. It was a way for me to gain more perspective and see a totally different part of the world.”

Frequently in business, travel comes with the territory, and believers are called to entwine their faith and work. “God showed me that working in business and living our faith are not separate things. God calls us to be his hands and feet here on earth, and there are some amazing people doing just that in India!” Spykman said.

For Spykman, interpersonal relationships on the trip proved invaluable. “I think this three-week course was a great experience. I was able to learn in a different way by interacting with business people in their environment instead of reading about their work in a textbook. Without Interim, I would not have been able to experience this new culture and I would have not met any of these new students. I felt that this experience was very beneficial.”

Jori Wieringa, a junior, took a course with the psychology department called Practicum: Children at Risk. “It was the first year the class was offered, and it was an excellent class.” The class spent half of the day at Calvin, learning about what sorts of factors and life circumstances put a child at risk. The second half of the day Wieringa and her classmates volunteered in Head Start preschools.

Although she’s a secondary education major, Wieringa worked with a much younger crowd: “I had the opportunity to help out in a three-year-old classroom, where my role was to provide the students with attention, affection and an example of appropriate behavior.” She was delightfully surprised by the infectious joy of the students in her classroom: “I loved spending my days with three-year-olds! Their smiles, giggles and constant energy were the highlight of January (even if I needed a nap afterwards)!”

One of her favorite moments happened while she was helping one of the three-year-old girls bundle up before going home for the day. “Before she let me help her put her arms in the sleeves, she turned to me and said, ‘I love you.’ It was the cutest thing.”

The combination of in-class learning and field experience gave Wieringa a unique learning experience; the time spent in lecture directly correlated with her time spent interacting with the children. “Through this class, I learned more about what it means to be a Christian caregiver and the importance of providing children a healthy and stable environment. I saw, firsthand, the positive effects that proper love and care can have on children in the Head Start classrooms.”

Professor Karen Saupe provided some insight into the nature and value of Interim as a yearly practice at Calvin: “What I appreciate most about Interim in general is the chance to focus intently on one course and, ideally, to help students explore something out of genuine curiosity or passion. I find Interim exhilarating and exhausting — it’s just as busy, maybe busier, than the semester. But there is a simplicity and focus to life when you’re focusing on just one classroom community and one course, and in that sense I always find the month refreshing. Interim at Calvin was originally intended to create space for exploring and contemplation, not to zoom through one more core or major requirement. Some of those required courses work quite well in this schedule; some don’t. But the best Interim experiences, in my opinion, allow students and faculty the freedom to learn and follow the questions that arise naturally, without grades or precise performance objectives or exams. I’ve seen a number of students over the years work harder in January than any other time just because they were passionate about the course content. I hope every student gets that experience at least once at Calvin.”