Interterm, the three-week “mini-term” in January that provides an opportunity for Baker University students to seek internship experience or add an extra three-hour course to their transcripts, is often met with mixed views from Baker students.
Some students say they enjoy interterm. Others don’t.
Sophomore Erin Blackburn said she enjoyed her interterm course “Psychopathology in Literature and Film.”
“Movies are my hobby,” Blackburn said, “and there were a couple of movies in it so I liked it the best (of the courses being offered). It’s been awesome. It’s a lot of fun.”
Blackburn said that overall, she enjoys interterm.
“It gets you back on campus and with your friends, but you’re not digging right in,” she said. “It gives you time for stuff you might not be able to do during the normal semester.”
Other students had mixed feelings about interterm.
“It kills me to lose so much time off of our Christmas break,” sophomore Trevor Racine said, “but I really do enjoy the chance to experience classes that aren’t generally offered on the catalog.”
Interterm was a new concept for freshman Tawny Decker, who said she enjoyed her class “Cult Film Festival.”
“I loved it,” Decker said. “Some of the movies you think of the original as something we see, but it’s not. In this class we watch the original, ‘old-school’ version, which is much better than the remakes.”
Though she liked the class, Decker said she didn’t like the timing of interterm.
“In some cases I don’t like it because I have two nieces and a nephew who are my age who don’t have to be back (at school) until the 22nd, but I had to be back on the first,” she said.
Other students did not like the classes being offered during interterm. Junior Steve Lovelady said he didn’t like the classes and opted to do an internship with the sports director at KLWN-AM in Lawrence.
“(Interterm) is a great concept, it just needs a lot of work,” Lovelady said. “I found a course listing of the 1999 interterm, and it was amazing as far as the courses offered. It has fallen a lot since then and needs a lot of improvement.”
Lovelady said he enjoyed his internship.
“I’ve learned a lot about the industry, and it’s been a good experience,” he said.
Because students only have to prepare for one class, many find themselves with a lot of free time on their hands. Several students said they spend their time kicking back and hanging out with friends.
“I relax and take it easy since I don’t have a lot of time to do it during the semesters,” Lovelady said. “I also catch up with people I don’t see during the semester. It’s also a great time for football.”
In addition to relaxing during interterm, some students said it is also a time of increased partying.
“I would say the opportunity is there if you would like to drink every night, but it’s not the only thing that happens by any means,” Racine said.
Lovelady, who is the hall director of Gessner Hall, said it seems like a lot of students were off campus this interterm.
“There’s not a lot of people around during interterm this year,” he said. “A lot of people are going home on nights and weekends. Gessner’s parking lot is pretty bare.”