It wasn't all play and no work for Hamilton College students during their spring break, March 9-23. From a science class in Ecuador and a service trip to Honduras, to choir performances in the Carolinas and the curling team competing in Chicago, Hamilton students were pursuing their academic, charitable and athletic interests all over the globe.
Eleven students in Biology Professor Peter Zani's tropical ecology course traveled to Ecuador for spring break, where they spent a week in rain forest lowlands running experiments that the students designed.
Meanwhile in Central America, seven Hamilton students spent a week in Cofradia, Cortes, Honduras, on an international service trip where they volunteered at San Jeronimo Bilingual School.
Sixty-six other Hamilton students spent part of their break doing volunteer work too, a bit closer to home. They were part of Hamilton's Alternative Spring Break trips, which this year visited Biloxi, Miss., and Buras, La., two Gulf Coast cities still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Others volunteered at non-profits such as Habitat for Humanity and Cumberland Trails in Franklin, W.V., Crossvillle, Tenn., Burgaw, N.C., and Land Between the Lakes, Ky.
Three Hamilton geoscience majors and a recent alumna participated in the Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of America conference. Olivia Frost '07, Alicia Colabella '07 and Chelsea Fellows-Swenson '06 gave papers co-authored with Geosciences Professor Cynthia Domack, and Richard Deitchman '07 presented research co-authored with Professor Todd Rayne at the conference, held at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H.
The Hamilton College Choir and College Hill singers took a road trip to the mid-Atlantic states, where they performed concerts in Baltimore, Charleston, S.C., Arlington, Va., Charlotte, N.C., Lawrenceville, N.J., as well as Binghamton, N.Y. While they were there the College Hill Singers made a live appearance on a Richmond morning TV program.
Members of the Mock Trial team made Hamilton proud as they took fourth place in the American Mock Trial Association National Tournament competition in Waukegan, Ill. They competed against Spelman College, Bowling Green University, Penn State and the University of Cincinnati-Ohio.
Also near Chicago, Hamilton's curling team – all sophomore chemistry majors – won the Division 5 National Championship. The team, which is new to curling this year, was among 40 teams from 27 colleges and universities competing.
Two members of Hamilton's Debate Team toughed out the Nor'easter of March 16-17 and made it to Boston to compete in the Brandeis University Debate Tournament. Laura Wright '10 and Jessica Yau '08 competed with 37 teams, including 27 novices. Wright and Yau won 5th best novice team and Yau received 8th best novice speaker.
Five Hamilton students spent a week of spring break, March 19-23, working with the residents at St. Elizabeth's Family Practice Residency program. This is the third group who have participated. They rotated through surgery, labor and delivery, pediatrics, family practice and internal medicine clinics. The students who particpated were Wendy Doster '08; Kevin McCarthy '07; Lindsay Rubenstein '07; Evan Savage '08; and Olivia Vargo '08.
Members of Hamilton's athletic teams did some traveling too. Hamilton men's swimmer Todd Johnson '08 earned an honorable mention All-America award in the 100-yard backstroke at the NCAA Division III Championships in Houston, Texas.
The men's and women's lacrosse teams, men's baseball, golf and women's tennis all traveled to various Florida cities to start their season competition, while men's and women's crew participated in the Augusta Invitational Regatta in South Carolina.
