Thank you athletes!

This year, the fall (football, soccer, field hockey, cross country and volleyball) athletes who were on campus early for training helped the Class of 2014 move into their dorms. It was great to see a sea of red shirts help out and welcome freshmen to Wesleyan. The move-in went so much smoother and faster than in previous years.

So I’d like to say again.. THANK YOU & GO WES!

Estamos Usando La Red: New Student Soccer Blog

If you’re already on campus, then you’ll understand how writing this from my not-so-air-conditioned  room affected the photo choice. (If not…check out this wacky soccer goof!) Anyway, this post was prompted by Gabe Lezra ‘11 sending us news of su nueva blog de fútbol con Josh Zeitlin ‘11 de Princeton, Managing Madrid. Taken from the blog’s sidebar description:

A couple of armchair managers observe, argue, report and analyze the daily goings on of the greatest organization in the history of professional sports, Real Madrid Club de Futbol.

The blog is already picking up steam; entries already posted include analysis of Real Madrid CF’s offseason acquisitions, tactics, news updates, and even a podcast! If you’re interested, check out the blog at the link below.

Managing Madrid

Help plan Wesleyan’s 2nd Relay for Life

Relay for LifeFrom Ann Wheeler ‘12:

As many of you probably know, last spring was Wesleyan’s first ever Relay for Life. Together, we raised over $25,000 for the American Cancer Society! We set the bar high, but we can do even better this year with your help. Even though the Relay doesn’t take place until the spring, planning starts now. If you’re interested in getting involved (helping us plan, advertise, network, etc), or just learning about the event, please contact Ann Wheeler at awheeler(at)wesleyan(dot)edu or our American Cancer Society staff partner Christina Owczarek at Christina.Owczarek(at)cancer(dot)org. Thanks!

Welcome, Freshmen!

Also, an oldie, but still a favorite:

Unhindered by a curfew and free from parental oversight, freshman Phil Melton, 18, spent his first night of independence Saturday inside his Pennsylvania State University dorm room and was asleep by 11:45 p.m.

“College is going to be awesome,” Melton said moments after threading the wires of his computer speakers through the hole in his new desk and sending a message from his personal e-mail account to his school e-mail “just to make sure” the new address was active. . . .

We Are Wesleyan

Are you Wesleyan?

Do you contemplate infinity for the fun of it? I don’t know how much of us actually do because the administration doesn’t keep stats on it, but there’s plenty they do keep.

The Class of 2014 Profile is out, detailing aspects of those admitted to the Class of 2014 on the front and those enrolled in 2010-2014 for the first year on the back.  Averaging out the Classes of 2011-2014, here’s what the Wesleyan population looks like:

Click here to view the PDF version because the site keeps unformatting the table here.

If you’re too lazy to view the document, it says that the Wesleyan student is a Caucasian female from the Mid-Atlantic who went to public school but is rich enough to pay full tuition.  She’s taken Calc, Bio, Chem, Physics, and 4 years of a foreign language.  She was in the top 10% of her high school class and scored 700 on each section of her SATs.  She is Wesleyan.  Or no, not necessarily.  There’s plenty of people who fit the description on campus, but not necessarily.  Simply skim the PDF to get a better view of the Wesleyan population. Read More »

Wesleyan Student Run Cafe Needs You!

Wespwesso

From Alex Bernson ‘11:

The Wesleyan Student Cafe is going be opening be open for your late night study-fuel needs starting in late September. Here’s how you can help:

  1. Help us come up with aname! There will be a poll once school starts, so help us brainstorm options now. Some ideas we’ve come up with: “The Red Bird”, “Red Eye Cafe”, “Cardinal’s Habit” and “Cardinal’s Cup”.
  2. Work for us! If you are work-study, apply at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/finaid/employment/ay_jobs/WSA/12105.html
  3. Volunteer on the cafe committee. You’ll get to help with advertising, community events and creating a community space . Email Alex Bernson ‘11 (abernson(at)wesleyan(dot)com) if you’re interested.

Send Questions or comments to Alex Bernson ‘11 abernson(at)wesleyan(dot)com or the WSA wsa(at)wesleyan(dot)com.

178th Reunion & Commencement in 178 Seconds

Wesleying Unofficial Orientation Series: WesTech

If you’re an entering freshman, being familiar with technology and internet is important, especially in this day and age.  The internet is your gateway to the world even when you’re within the Wesleyan bubble, but it can have both it’s limitations and it’s advantages.  It can only help to learn these as quickly as possible.

The first thing you should know: WesTech.  It refers to “staff members work in partnership with students, faculty and academic and administrative staff to incorporate the latest and most efficient technology into teaching and learning,” you might think.  No, that’s ITS and how they describe themselves.  Here’s what our Wes Lingo post says about WesTech:

WesTech is a word that will pop up every once in a while (via the ACB): “WesTech refers to everyone not DKE/Beta or mostly the ‘very Wesleyan’ population. It comes from the idea that Wesleyan has unattractive girls and bad sports and thus might as well be a technical school: WesTech.” Apparently, however, this is a term used mainly by other schools to make fun of Wesleyan, and has been appropriated by the sports teams as a label of pride (sports teams doing the ironic appropriation? Only at Wesleyan). A Techie was a term generally used by athletes to describe a “typical” Wesleyan student (artsy), or a “Techie.”

Now that you know what it means, this is required viewing: WesTech State of Mind.

[UPDATE: Library section added.] Read More »

Wesleying Unofficial Orientation Series: Holly and Xue’s (Minorly Updated) Dorm Living FAQZ!

As part of our unofficial Orientation series, we decided it’d be a good idea to once again repost Holly and Xue’s awesome Frequently Asked Questionz regarding Dorm Living. In order to stay true to our founders’ ideology (we here at Wesleying are sticklers for ideological purity, after all), we only updated to reflect factual changes.

All is revealed under the cut:

Read More »

The transfers are coming!

Class of 2013

According to the Office of Admissions site, Wesleyan admits about 60 transfer students each year.

On the Class of 2013 blog, Dean Brown has just announced that there are 46 transfer students joining the sophomore class alone.  She reports:

They are coming from countries as far away as India, China and Italy and from states as diverse as Colorado, Florida, Oregon, Wisconsin, Hawaii and Maine.  Transferring from schools such as Georgetown, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Colgate, Tulane, Vanderbilt, UPenn and Bard

I’m not sure those states themselves are the most diverse, but they are a diverse assortment of states.  Also, some of these transfers seem like they came from decently reputable colleges so kudos to us – I’ll take that as a compliment.  It would be pretty interesting to compare that to a list of schools people transferred to away from Wes, but hopefully there’s not that many to mention in the first place (we do have a pretty decent retention rate*).  I don’t think we’ll ever get such a list from the administration anyway.

Hopefully the Class of 2012 sheds some light on its transfers too.

So, while the administration photoshops some headshots into the class picture above, let’s welcome some new members of the Wes community we can’t say “GTFO frosh” to.

*It’s 95% according to Wesleyan’s College Board College Search profile.

Wesleyan: No Parents Allowed, Since 1831

At around 6:00 next Wednesday, members of Wesleyan’s newly arrived Class of 2014 will meet, shepherded by RAs and Orientation Leaders, on the CFA Green for the traditional barbecue welcome. Left in the dust, their parents will be forced to move on and move out—not necessarily in that order. So goes Operation Separation at Wes: swift and painless.

Not so at other schools. A New York Times cover story this week details the myriad ways in which college orientation schedules have learned to deal with a generation of doting helicopter parents who seemingly refuse to leave—from Morehouse College’s formal “Parting Ceremony” to Princeton’s blunt “students only” designation:

As the latest wave of superinvolved parents delivers its children to college, institutions are building into the day, normally one of high emotion, activities meant to punctuate and speed the separation. It is part of an increasingly complex process, in the age of Skype and twice-daily texts home, in which colleges are urging “Velcro parents” to back off so students can develop independence. . . .

Some undergraduate officials see in parents’ separation anxieties evidence of the excesses of modern child-rearing. “A good deal of it has to do with the evolution of overinvolvement in our students’ lives,” said Mr. Dougharty of Grinnell. “These are the baby-on-board parents, highly invested in their students’ success. They do a lot of living vicariously, and this is one manifestation of that.”

Do (most) parents know instinctively when to peace the hell out? Or does Generation Helicopter really need a more formal, if occasionally ridiculous, dismissal? Does Wes do it right? Discuss and share move-in day horror stories in the comments.

M-Link Schedule

Middletown Area Transit MAT M-LinkOne of the biggest accomplishments of the WSA last year, at least from my perspective, was getting the M-Link to stop on campus.  The “M-Link Middletown/Meriden Connection” is a bus service provided by Middletown Area Transit (MAT).  For a town that’s loosely in the middle of New York and Boston, loosely in the middle of New Haven and Hartford, and even has middle in it’s name, you ironically can’t seem to get anywhere without a car.

M-Link William Street and High StreetWith the introduction of M-Link, you can now easily access shopping areas like Washington Plaza, the Westfield Mall, and the ever controversial Walmart for $1.25 (in change). Thats a dollar less than in New York, 75 cents less than in San Francisco, and 25 cents less than on-board in Boston–more money to waste.  If you really want to get away from Wes, you can get to the Meriden Station and catch Amtrak six days a week.

Because the MAT web site does not appear to have an updated schedule, below is the new timetable.  Note that all times are approximate, and you should arrive five minutes early to be safe. [Please click 'Read More' if you're viewing this from the Wesleying homepage.]

[Schedule provided by WSA's Zach Malter '13]

Read More »

Wesleying Unofficial Orientation Series: Campus Dining

Back in Wesleying’s infancy, one of the first posts was Holly and Xue’s Guide to Eating and Drinking Things at Wesleyan. Then Usdan opened in ‘07 and the whole thing was rendered completely inaccurate—until last summer, anyway. (View the original update here.) In light of wholesale changes to Summerfields and a few minor changes, we’ve again updated the guide for the upcoming year. So without further ado, Wesleying presents the 2010 Guide to Eating and Drinking Things at Wesleyan, made with 10 percent more love than the leading brand. Add or correct in the comments as you see fit.

Read More »

What’s New

In a much-needed change of topic from all those rankings, let’s see what we have to look forward to on campus.

Here’s an overview:

  • MoCon is gone.
  • More meal points!
  • ResLife is going to introduce Hall Councils…
  • The Allbritton Coffee Shop should finally open.
  • Moodle is replacing BlackBoard.
  • Easier access to (prescription) drugs.

UPDATED dining information from WSA Dining Committee Chair Zach Malter ‘13.

For a long list you might not want to bother with, click to Read More »

Wesleying Unofficial Orientation Series: Wes Lingo

Hello, 2014! Welcome (almost) to Wesleyan.  As part of of a recent Wesleying tradition of sorts, we are reposting (slightly updated) guides to student life at Wesleyan, which our blog’s esteemed founders, Holly and Xue, put together way back in 2006 to help incoming freshmen (now the just-graduated Class of ‘10—weird, right?) get acclimated to Wes. First up is a guide to Wes Lingo, so you’ll know just what the hell people are talking about when they mention spotting townies in the Butthole on Ze Who Must Not Be Named Day—or something like that. So, without further ado:

The Unofficial, Updated, and Un-Comprehensive Guide to Wes Lingo (original 2006 post here):

Read More »