After more than 500 courses and events from Jan. 13–26, Wintersession 2025 is now over. From coffee shop tours in NYC to classes on first aid for animals, Wintersession events have provided Princeton community members with opportunities to learn new skills and gain new experiences.
Since its launch in January 2021, Wintersession has become a popular option for those remaining on campus over winter break, with more than 5,100 participants last year. Undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, and staff are all invited to lead and participate in various events.
On the last day of Wintersession, more than 1,700 students registered for the Eating Clubs x Wintersession Food Festival event, marking the end of winter break and the beginning of Street Week — the time where sophomores explore the different eating clubs ahead of Bicker. The ‘Prince’ spoke to attendees of this event to understand their Wintersession experiences.
The morning of the food festival, Abiral Shakya ’28 received a few texts from his friends telling him about the event. Shakya explained that he decided to go because “it’s a great way to connect with people just before classes start. It’s a really good stress reliever.”
Jeanna Raphael ’26 was working at the festival, despite not being a member of an eating club. She told the ‘Prince’ that she loves Wintersession for the “free food and free merch.” She added that “Wintersession is a great event to have before coming back.”
Raphael was an avid participant in Wintersession. One of her favorite courses was Masala Magic, where she learned “to cook an Indian meal in under three hours with readily available ingredients.”
For Raphael, Wintersession was also an opportunity to meet new people. “You’ll be at an event, and you’ll see staff, and you’ll see graduate students as well. So you meet a vast amount of different people,” she said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’
Wunnyuriti Ziblim ’28 attended High Tea with the VP, an event with Vice President for Campus Life Rochelle Calhoun and guided by tea sommelier and Associate Director of the Office of Campus Engagement Ohemaa Boahemaa. “We learned tea etiquette, and then we got to talk with the vice president. So that was pretty cool,” Ziblim said.
Wintersession has also been popular with graduate students who are still around during winter break. Some graduate students cited the free food: If undergraduate and graduate students sign up for at least one event, they get free dining hall meals for the full two weeks.
“I originally signed up for this just to get the free dining hall food, but then it was actually pretty cool,” Sharon Platt GS told the ‘Prince.’
Platt went on a tour of plant-based food in Philadelphia. The trip included dinner at plant-based restaurant Vedge and a discussion on ingredients and cooking techniques. “I didn’t know Wintersession could be so fun,” Platt said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’ “I just didn’t realize there was stuff other than lectures at Wintersession.”
Wintersession is a time of community building for both graduate and undergraduate students, students said.
Phoebe Richardson GS participated in a LEGO-building event and attended some sports games. Although she was working throughout the Wintersession period, she “dropped by when [she] could … It’s nice to have a bit of community here when all the undergrads are away.”
“I think it’s really nice that they’re putting so much time and energy and funding towards a bunch of different types of educational events and also just fun events,” Richardson said.
Nikki Han is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Sydney, Australia.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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