Attendees of our High School Summer Institutes share a typical day in the program.
A Day in the Life of Kareem from St. Louis
I enrolled in the Healthcare Continuum Institute. I'm very interested in public health policy, so this program perfectly aligned with my academic interests. I started my day at 8:30am. My suitemates and I would head to breakfast, usually at Cafe Bergson, and talk about the plan for the day. What was nice about the program is we had a pretty predictable schedule, so it was easy to make plans for studying and socializing.
Morning sessions started at 10:00am and were a mix of lectures, discussion, and case study analysis. This session lasted until 12:00pm. I'd head over with classmates to Subway for lunch. This was my favorite place to eat lunch, because you could order ahead and there was a great courtyard just outside. I would head over to the library to study for a bit, but sometimes I would also just take some quiet time to enjoy campus.
Afternoon session started at 2:00pm and lasted until around 3:30pm. These sessions were usually guest lectures and it was really cool to hear from individuals working in the healthcare fields. I loved that this program wasn't "how to be a doctor" but was the whole spectrum of healthcare. After class, I headed back to the residence hall for college planning sessions. These sessions were so useful. I'm a first-generation student, so learning more about how to research and apply to colleges was one of the main reasons I wanted to attend this program. After college planning, I would usually go work out or play soccer then grab dinner with friends.
at Washington University.
My project group liked to work mostly at night, so we would meet up in the residence hall around 8:00pm and work for an hour or two. Then I'd go back to my suite and just chill with my suitemates. The weekend was a lot of fun too! The program assistants organized trips to the St. Louis Zoo and the Delmar Loop. As a local, it was fun to show St. Louis city to all my new friends!
A Day in the Life of Jane from Seattle
I enrolled in the Creative Immersion Institute. I'm planning on studying creative writing in college, so I knew this program was the perfect fit! I usually started my day around 7:30am writing in my journal. Then I'd head to breakfast and take some quiet time for myself just walking around campus and feeling inspired for the day. Workshop began at 10:00am. We did a lot of different things in workshop. Sometimes our instructor would give a brief lecture and we'd follow a writing prompt. Other times, we'd read our pieces out loud and get feedback. The morning would wrap up around 12:00pm, and I would head with classmates to lunch. We tried to eat at a new campus dining space each day, and it was fun to see all the different food available on campus. In this program we wrote A LOT, so we always took our lunch break to work on pieces from class.
Afternoon session started at 2:00pm and lasted until 4:00pm. These sessions were fun because we often got to explore campus, like the Kemper Art Museum, and imagine our characters in various scenes and conversations. Dr. Bloomquist always gave us prompts to get started, but she allowed us the freedom to let our writing evolve however we wanted. I loved that freedom!
After classes ended, my friends and I would head back to the residence hall. There was always a lot going on in the residence hall, so sometimes we would hang back and do social events. The mindfulness activities were some of my favorites like doing group yoga, puzzles, or coloring. Other times we would go off campus to explore and have dinner. I liked all the options the program provided. Either way, we were back in the residence hall by around 8:30pm. Sometimes there would be fun late night activities like board game nights or karaoke. The staff were also available for individual tutoring sessions. I really appreciated their advice on not just my class writing assignments, but on my personal essay and college application. I usually headed to my suite around 10:30pm, very happy and a little tired from the full day.
