From London to India, and from Senegal to Israel, last year's Weissman interns went all over the globe. But certain characteristics of the program seem to be consistent.

Oddly, only one quarter of the 44 interns selected in the last two years have been male, although Pavese says this is based on a completely random selection process.

Chelliah, however, speculated that the same type of community service organizations at Harvard that overwhelmingly attract women, also tend to host interns abroad.

Additionally, at least one student organization, Bhumi, has come to serve as an unofficial conduit for finding internships in Asia. The group works with non-governmental organizations to match Harvard students with internships abroad. According to Waters, no fewer than six of last year's Weissman interns, herself included, found their internships through Bhumi.

Yet even if certain patterns have emerged in the Weissman program, the sheer diversity of individual experiences appears in the stories brought back from abroad by the interns who participated in the program.

Nippita, who worked in the fairly remote city of Goiania in central Brazil, remembers particularly one day-trip to a lake six hours north of the city.

"We went to a lake which is kind of an oasis in the middle of nowhere," Nippita recalls. "We went swimming in piranha-infested waters and then roasted piranhas for dinner. People do different things for fun, and it really makes you rethink what you do here."