Hobart and William Smith Colleges

An Introduction to experiential learning

Engage in a themed experience with a small group of your peers during your first days on the HWS campus. Led by a faculty or staff guide and supported by student mentors, you'll dive into a topic of interest, collaborating with your Spark! group, getting to know the campus and greater Finger Lakes region and making connections to future academic and co-curricular paths. Your Spark! experience will culminate in a presentation, display, performance or other opportunity to share what you've learned during your first days at HWS. 

As part of new student Orientation, all incoming first-year students are required to participate in a Spark! project. Transfer students have the option to participate in a Spark! project, but it is not required.

check out first-year students participating in spark! projects on campus and around the finger lakes in this flyoverfriday. 

 

2025 Spark! Projects

Discovering the Leader in You
Executive Director of Community Engagement and Service Learning Katie Flowers

Discovering the Leader in You will allow first-year students the opportunity to learn about themselves (leading self) through an analysis of their personality and develop a leadership philosophy, learn leadership practices, communication methods, interpersonal skills applicable in group settings, and apply methods in a high ropes course setting to put knowledge and skills into practice. Through learning about and interacting with other campus leaders, students will cultivate a plan for impactful leadership involvement at HWS and in the Geneva community.

Finding Your FIT!
Assistant Director of Recreation, Intramurals and Fitness Deven Siesel

Finding Your FIT will bring first-year students together around movement and the need for human connection to discover the power of community and exercise. Students will have the opportunity to explore the Geneva/HWS communities on foot while reflecting on their own experiences with exercise/movement. Students will also begin exploring and creating connections to the social benefits of engaging in these activities. Students will also learn various styles of exercise and movement to become more comfortable and confident in finding ways to take care of themselves. Students will also learn techniques to recover after working out and discuss the other benefits movement and exercises can have on their daily lives. After becoming more familiar with their new home, teams of students will design an opportunity for others to build social connections through movement.

Finger Lakes Cheese & (Ice) Cream: Industry, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Tourism, & More
Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship Craig Talmage

For our project, we will connect with dairy-based educational spaces, regional producers, local sellers, and nearby tourist venues in the Finger Lakes region, specifically those that are close to campus, Geneva, and Seneca Lake. On the two-day excursion, we will meet farmers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and alums in the Finger Lakes. And of course, we get to taste their products, see their workplaces, and make our own cheese and ice cream as a group! Our culminating project gets you involved in marketing these wonderful places and products to students at HWS!

Fish on!
Associate professor of writing and rhetoric ben ristow

In this Spark! program, you will join other like-minded first year students who spin and/or fly-fish or would like to learn. Currently, the HWS Fishing Club has experienced a renaissance, with over 50 student club members in 2022, and in this Spark! program, you will spend two days of activities on the surrounding water of Seneca Lake and its tributaries. You will have the opportunity to learn about the regional fisheries as well as world-class trout, bass, and salmon fishing in Central New York.

fun with integrated circuit and robotics
instructor of mathematics and computer science hanqing hu

In cooperation with the HWS Robotic Club, this Spark! project offers you the opportunity for hands-on experience with coding robotics. For two days we will build circuit-controlled smart LED displays and/or small robotic rover that can run around in a classroom. We will learn the basics of circuit design and C++ coding with Arduino integrated circuit. In cooperation with the HWS Robotic Club, this Spark! project offers you the opportunity for hands-on experience with coding robotics. For two days teams in this SPARK project will build circuit-controlled smart LED displays and/or small robots that competes against each other. We will learn the basics of circuit design and C++ coding with Arduino integrated circuit.

GOING WITH THE FLOW (FIRST-YEARS LEARNING ON THE WATER)
FINGER LAKES INSTITUTE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS NADIA HARVIEUX & ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF SPECIES PROGRAM AND FINGER LAKES PRISM COORDINATOR SAM BECK-ANDERSON

You will create a new "sense of place" through field experiences to water bodies that define our region: a local wetland complex that provides numerous ecosystem services, a stream gorge that hints at a very different geologic past, and the beautiful Finger Lakes themselves that drive our thriving regional economy. Through these field experiences (paddling, hiking and on-lake science), you will become familiar with the rich historical, ecological, economic and societal benefits of water in our region. You will use your immersive field experiences to develop a group "Artivism" display or project to help your first year peers broaden their understanding of "sense of place" while living in the Finger Lakes, all through the lens of water.

golf course architecture in the finger lakes
Professor Emeritus chip capraro 

You'll get off campus right away to explore some architecturally significant golf course designs here in the Finger Lakes by Donald Ross and Robert Trent Jones. While appreciating their beauty and splendor, you’ll engage in some key conceptual questions: What were the basic design elements and fundamental principles of classically designed golf courses, including their magnificent club houses? What was the GOLFING EXPERIENCE their designers were trying to create? How is designing a golf course like solving a puzzle? As a group, you’ll wrap up the Spark! adventure making posters featuring images- photos and drawings- of golf courses seen in a new light, and maybe actually play a few holes!

leadership, culture & Community: HWS athletics
associate athletic director and senior woman administrator Liz dennison 

You will discuss important topics around history, culture, academic/athletic balance, and self-leadership, all in an effort to weave an understanding of the Hobart and William Smith athletics into the your careers at HWS. You will explore the idea of followership as a form of leadership, and the transition from a senior leader in high school to a first-year team member and student in college. This Spark! will position you with a toolbox for success and immediate connections amongst their teams, the HWS community at large, alumni/ae connections, and Hobart and William Smith Athletics. Speakers will include administrators, coaches, alumni and guests! This Spark! is limited to fist-year, fall sport student-athletes only.

Let’s Play!
INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGIST SARAH GOBE

“Play” is essential in helping build our cognitive and emotional skills. They help us develop trust, empathy, openness, resilience, and a sense of belonging, while enhancing our critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Most importantly playing is enjoyable, something that we actively seek out. Come play a series of games with us, from logic puzzles to physical challenges, video games to board games, while focusing on HWS community, culture, and connectivity. We will travel to the Strong Museum of Play to learn about different types of play, see the progression of gaming culture throughout time, and play with interactive exhibits.

EDIBLES IN OUR LANDSCAPE
grounds manager drew rojek, VP and Director of Special Projects kathy regan '82 & Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology Brian Clark 

This project is an exploration of the campus and surrounding area where we will learn about sustainable gardening/farming as well as the many edible plants that we walk by each day. The project will include developing some foraging skills as well as creating some delicious by-products from our foraging.

Ready, Set, Rescue
Director of Community Values and Conflict Resolution Joshua Bishop

This unique opportunity allows students interested in the medical and helping professions gain valuable skills and relationships that will assist them throughout their time at HWS and beyond! The Spark! will allow students to complete certifications in CPR, Stop the Bleed, and Narcan training while building relationships with local EMS, Fire, and Rescue personnel from around the greater Geneva area. This unique opportunity allows students interested in the medical and helping professions gain valuable skills and relationships that will assist them throughout their time at HWS and beyond! The Spark! will allow students to complete CPR and Stop the Bleed training while building relationships with local EMS, Fire, and Rescue personnel from around the greater Geneva area.

SPOARK
Associate Dean David Mapstone

SPOARK, a play on Spark! and spork; a common back country utensil. A compound outdoors trip with one day on the water and one in the woods in the beautiful Finger Lakes region. Come with us to hike the gorges and kayak the finger lakes that make our region unique. Surrounded by your future classmates, and upperclassmen as your guides, you will strap on some boots and paddle into your future at HWS. This Spark! consists of one full day hiking and one full day kayaking, please be sure to answer the Spoark question so we can properly place you in an experience group. 

study abroad in the finger lakes
Pre-departure and Re-entry Programming Coordinator of the center for global education hannah mathews & Associate Director of the center for global education Colleen Kolb

Study Abroad in the Finger Lakes provides the opportunity to learn more about the area that will be your home for the next four years while simultaneously building a deeper understanding of your own identities and values. You will join in story-sharing conversations with local community members, deepen your understanding of the surrounding area with a trip to the Rochester Public Market and Rochester Museum & Science Center, and participate in activities to expand your intercultural competencies. Learn about using and fostering these skills both while on campus and during your future study abroad journeys with HWS.

Tri the Finger Lakes: Exploring the Finger Lakes as an Outdoor Playground
Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Ruth Shields & Assistant Director of Community Engagement and Service Learning Peter Budmen

Tri the Finger Lakes is an immersive, adventure-based SPARK! session designed to introduce first-year students to the natural beauty of the Finger Lakes region through activities inspired by triathlons. Participants will engage in running, swimming, kayaking, cycling, and team relay activities, fostering interpersonal relationships, team building, and a strong sense of belonging within the HWS and Geneva communities.

Ink and Insights: Reflective Journaling for Self-Discovery and Personal Growth
Associate Director of the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional, and Experiential Education Julia Walsh Postler

You do not need to be a writer to be able to reflect on your own experiences. Besides pen and paper the only thing you will need in this SPARK! is an open mind and positive outlook. Being in a new and different situation for the first time in your life can present a myriad (both positive and negative) of emotions, ideas, questions, and reactions. Reflective Journaling is just one of many activities which can provide an outlet of expression while supporting self-discovery, emotional processing, and in-depth understanding of the “new”. 

This two-day SPARK! opportunity will introduce students to the “art” of reflective journaling through the practice of a variety of research-based techniques. These techniques will vary from the familiar to the novel. Students will experience the advantages of reflective journaling as a daily habit to promote healthy mindsets, establish routines, provide an outlet for expression, and discover oneself. In a safe space of community, students will practice together to explore reflective journaling. The process of reflecting, journaling, and sharing can be empowering, creative, and enlightening, while serving as a record of personal growth and accomplishment. As a group the students will create a safe space of community to engage in the process of reflective journaling. To challenge themselves students will start in the known of their personal thoughts and experiences and broaden their scope of ideas through the lens of the “new” as they experience a variety of workplace spaces in the Geneva community. This will support the students envisioning their future through the practice of reflective journaling and possibly take on a new lifelong habit of discovery.

All Means All: A Look at Disability and Inclusion in Our Finger Lakes Community
Associate Professor of Educational Studies Mary Kelly

Meet students from the Arc Ontario College Experience Program at HWS and learn about local social-enterprise programs that employ folks with disabilities, such as the North Star Café and Bad Dog Boutique. We’ll explore inclusive recreational and arts programs (e.g., Motion Junction, Creative Expressions) and other local community-based programs that promote disability access and inclusivity.

Animating Life at HWS
Assistant Professor of Media and Society  Iskandar Zulkarnain

This SPARK! Project is for those who love or grew up with animation. We will watch a curated list of animations from various countries and have a discussion about what make them unique in terms of their medium and message. We will then collaboratively make a stop motion animation short as our final activity.

Bridging Generations: Tech for Connection
Executive Director of the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education Brandi Ferrara

Students will explore the Geneva community through the lens of challenges older adults face with technology. We will build intergenerational connections to reduce loneliness through hands-on training and interaction with local community members. Students will develop practical skills to support older adults in navigating digital tools while also connecting with local organizations that will also help launch their sense of connectiveness to Geneva.