"My thesis isn't due until the end of March, but if I do nothing over this break, then I don't think I'll be able to finish anything that I'll like or that will be any good," Grote said.

M. Dan Hughes '01, a history and literature concentrator, is also beginning to feel the pressure.

"It's not exactly necessary that I spend the vacation working on my paper, but my adviser strongly suggested it," he said. "Maybe I shouldn't have taken five classes and done two shows last term."

But slaving seniors will not be the only ones hanging around over the break.

For Mike S. Roiff '01 and the cast of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, intersession means one straight week of rehearsals. Their opening night is scheduled for Feb. 15, but as of yet, they have had only one read-through.

According to Roiff, the group will rehearse from roughly 10 a.m. to midnight every day of intersession.

"It's a lot, but the big thing is that it's so much fun to be with all the guys and everyone who is involved with the show," Roiff said. "We all kind of think of it as spending time with family--only the kind of family that you don't hate."