The January Project launched at Wellesley College in 2021 as a response to the isolation and disruption of the pandemic, designed to reunite a disconnected campus community while filling the developmental gaps created by restrictions on experiential learning. Over the course of a single January, three immersive programs ran simultaneously: a first-year common read of Laila Lalami’s The Other Americans, with reflection groups exploring questions of identity and belonging; a sophomore community engagement experience in which 27 peer leaders guided volunteers through placements and weekly reflection sessions; and over 200 virtual Hive Internship Projects spanning a wide range of career fields for juniors and seniors, supported by ongoing meetings with career advisors. Throughout the month, 15 seminars brought the full campus community together, drawing over 2,000 unique viewers. What began as a pandemic-era intervention became something far more lasting.

The January Project sparked a broader institutional reckoning with the importance of experiential learning and seeded several programs that are now permanent fixtures of the Wellesley student experience. Embark! brings all first-year students through a January career retreat centered on self-assessment and life design. Short-Term Internship Projects (SHIPs) match first-years with 40 to 80 hour virtual internships led by alum mentors. Upskill intensives offer week-long skill-building tracks that complement the liberal arts with career-related and project-based learning. The Clinton Fellows Sophomore Experience teaches all sophomores the fundamentals of active citizenship and changemaking. And beginning with the class entering in fall 2024, Wellesley requires all students to complete two units of meaningful experiential learning before graduation — making the connective tissue between liberal arts education and life beyond campus not just an aspiration, but a degree requirement.