During H-Term, more than 85 students in eight different countries around the globe are participating in an internship or independent study off-campus. All participants are expected to commit more than 60 hours to an internship or an independent study, and they are all presenting a final presentation, paper, or reflection about their experience. These independent studies and internships are supposed to be a new and unique experience for students, explained Jake Tischler, the H-term coordinator. 

Marshall Welch, a 4th form student, is applying for a pilot’s license for his H-term independent study. Aviation has been an interesting hobby for him since he was young.

“My grandfather built and flew planes and my father, including his two brothers, both received their pilot’s licenses at a young age,” Welch said.

Welch is attaining his license by logging hours with a flight instructor on a plane. Since piloting has been ingrained into his life, he sees aviation as a strong career path for him. 

Conrad Hens, a 6th form student, will be watching and practicing spinal surgery. He will be watching an ACDF (anterior cervical decompression and fusion) surgery and a lateral interbody fusion at the Albany Medical Center and the Hospital for Spinal Surgeries with a spinal device sales specialist. He will also do more hands-on work at the NuVasive East Coast Experience Center with an artificial spine and implants. This opportunity will allow him to expand and gain more knowledge about his passion. He is able to have this opportunity because of his father being the U.S. distribution and commercial leader for NuVasive.

Jennie Ki, a 5th form student, will be in an internship with the foreign embassy in South Korea. Her passion for international relations and domestic policy is the driving factor behind her choice for H-term. In this experience, she will learn about diplomatic negotiation and strategy through researching and translating internal documents for many different embassies of Korea. She also will attain a deep and nuanced knowledge of diplomacy as she will focus on diplomatic communication and how it can be implemented with geopolitical strategy.

“I will also be able to directly interact with many officials working in the Korean foreign service and will learn the subtleties of diplomacy through conversations with them,” Ki said.