Author Archives: zoomy

Unofficial Orientation 2023: Orientation 101

This is part of our 2023 Unofficial Orientation Series. A quick reminder that you can check out the welcome post here and past years’ series here.

Orientation is a wild time. There are the parties you hear about people going to, but have no idea how to find. There are those first awkward meals with your hallmates/roommates. There are the nights when you curl up in bed with a picture of your best friends from high school and wonder why you didn’t just follow them to college.

Our goal today is to teach you (nearly) everything you need to know in order to make the most out of your orientation experience!

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Unofficial Orientation 2023: Eating and Drinking things at Wes

This post is an updated version of an updated version of Sam’s update which was an updated version of wilk’s Eating and Drinking orientation article.

This is part of our 2023 Unofficial Orientation Series. A quick reminder that you can check out the welcome post here and past years’ series here.

Eating and drinking is a necessity for all living beings, even during your hazy college days. While we all have to adjust our food standards from delicious home-cooked meals to university food, trust me, it could be worse. This year Wesleyan is ranked #15 (we were demoted from #7, sad) in college food on Niche out of all the colleges in the U.S. so you know it’s going to be good. Wes has many options for dining that you can enjoy regardless of your dietary orientation. We’re even ranked #2 by One Green Planet for Most Vegan-Friendly Colleges. There’s a plethora of awesome vegan food and our friends at the Mongolian Grill are always willing to cook up a chicken tortilla topped with cheese if it’s protein that you want.

This is the part of the orientation series where we remind you to eat your veggies.

 

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Unofficial Orientation 2023: WesLingo

This is part of our 2023 Unofficial Orientation Series. A quick reminder that you can check out the welcome post here and past years’ series here.

This post is a repost of a repost of an updated repost of a repost of a repost of a repost of a repost of a repost of a repost of a repost of a post for anyone who’s worried about sounding like a totally unassimilated dweeb walking around campus – which is inevitable, but this post is tradition by now. So prefrosh, listen up. Conformity is key. (Which is probably the last thing you’d expect to hear at Wes.)

You’re about to be introduced to the most crucial part of the Wesleyan experience: WesLingo.

At this point, you’ve probably spent your summer knowing the names of buildings as they are on the campus map (which is conveniently linked here for those of you who are procrastinating even that. And let’s be honest, if you are reading this, chances are that you’re procrastinating choosing your classes, or at the very least, doing your common reading) Let me just tell you now: almost all of them have earned some nickname or other over the course of Wesleyan’s long lifetime. We’re here to help you relearn their de facto names, so you aren’t marching around looking like the uninformed frosh that you are. Once again though, it’s inevitable; even if you’re “on your phone” we know you are looking at the school map as you head towards one direction and do a completely noticeable 180 degree turn towards your building of choice. Pro tip: If you procrastinate learning the building definitions until ten minutes before your first class, a list of building names and their acronyms can be found here. Alternatively, just ask another student. We don’t bite, I promise (at least not too hard)

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Unofficial Orientation 2023: What To Pack

This an updated version of Maury’s update of Fos’ coronavirus update of a not highly modified repost of Fern’s post from 2019 which was a highly updated version of Meli’s post from the year before, which is a repost of Sam’s post from the year before that, which is a  repost of Jackson’s post from the year before that, which was a repost of Frizzly’s post from the year before that, which was a repost of Samira’s post in 2013.

This is part of our 2022 Unofficial Orientation Series. A quick reminder that you can check out the welcome post here and past years’ series here.

The packing list: possibly the most exciting part of the entire pre-frosh experience. There’s nothing quite like that first pilgrimage to Bed Bath and Beyond, walking through the forest of twin XL sheets and Premium, Ultra High Thread Count, Norwegian-Silk-Worm-Excrement-Infused ® towels. Every which way you look there’s something else that you couldn’t possibly live without in the perfect dorm room you’ve conjured up in your head.

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Unofficial Orientation 2023: Dorm Life FAQ

Holly and Xue wrote the first version of this post in 2006 and it has been reposted every year since then. Dorm Life never changes much. Unless Fauver becomes Bennett (wow this joke is old). (Or unless Clark goes on fire a few times) (Or unless the Butts get flooded on the very first night of freshmen orientation)

Pictured: A bright-eyed young freshman shakes his groove thang, eager to impress his lofty peers. Taken by Rachel Pincus '13.

Pictured: A bright-eyed young freshman shakes his groove thang, eager to impress his lofty peers. Taken by Rachel Pincus ’13. (this can be you too, just 10+ years later!)

This is part of our 2023 Unofficial Orientation Series. A quick reminder that you can check out the welcome post here and past years’ series here.

Dear frosh of 2027,

As you are probably fretting about your first day of college, a sense of melancholy (or jittery excitement and increased WesAdmits activity, if you hated high school) has creeped up on you. Are you making lists of toiletries and getting boxes from Staples to pack your life into? Wondering how much action your soon-to-be bed has gotten in the past? A lot, probably.

But don’t be too frazzled. Before you finish your housing form, get your roommate(s) assignment, and make dorm Facebook groups that no one will check after October, Wesleying‘s here to answer your 40ish most pressing questions related to waking-up-and-instantly-having-200-or-so-of-your-peers-to-hang-out-with.

The pertinent FAQ doesn’t change much from year to year, so we tend to update/repost much of the original guide by Norse Goddess Holly-and-Xue ’08 (cuz it’s still damn good and we’re still damn lazy) every year. This re-vamped guide is up to date and full of Wesleyan lingo:

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Unofficial Orientation 2023 is here!!

the above photograph was created with official photoshop software and certainly not instagram

Heya class of 2027!

(or you oldies— you’re welcome too)

Freshman orientation is approaching with rapid speed – perhaps this is the most exciting statement to you or perhaps it makes a pit of dread in your stomach. Either way, you are most likely buzzing with questions about every aspect of your new college life that is only a week or so away. What will I be eating? What are my dorms going to be like? Should I hookup with someone on my hall? (hint: not unless you hate yourself). Wtf is WesPlague, Eclectic House, the Butthole, and the Douglas Cannon??? (A personal zoomy favorite). FEAR NOT!! All these answers and so much more will be provided by Wesleying to help you with all your pre-departure needs. 

This year, in Wesleying tradition, we’re posting our Unofficial Orientation series to get you up to speed on all things Wes. And because we’re the cool kids, we’ll tell you all the juicy details that they don’t want you to hear at the real orientation. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the info-dump that is this series. For easy access, all articles will be linked here as they are posted:

You could also look at our Unofficial Orientation 2023 tag, and if you desire feel free to look back at past Unofficial Orientations. 

If you have any specific questions, post them as comments to this page or email staff@wesleying.org! And if you like what you see and are interested in writing for Wesleying in the future, we’ll be having an interest meeting soon after the semester starts. Stay tuned for the deets! From all of us here at Wesleying, welcome to Wesleyan! We’re so glad you’re here :D

 

FEATURED
Highlights in the Douglass Cannon’s Legacy

 

The last time the Douglass Cannon was seen was in this email in 2018 from Dean Mike

It’s come to my attention that we are not talking enough about what I believe is one of Wesleyan’s greatest hidden treasures: the Douglass Cannon. 

Though on occasion I meet a person who shares my love for this silly cannon, I find that most people live in complete oblivion of its existence. Like many other Wesleyan traditions and lore, I think the pandemic has wiped away a good chunk of cannon awareness. However, I am more than aware. The Douglass Cannon has become my latest utter hyper-fixation and favorite pastime. There are days where I cannot work, think, or talk about anything but this cannon, and how absolutely crazy I think its history is. Like a storm, it has taken over my life and riddled me with obsession. My friends don’t even want to get meals with me for fear that I will continue to rant about this cannon’s legacy.

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Procrastination Destination: The Archives

Are you looking for even more procrastination destination articles to keep you from facing those essays and exams? Check out some highlights of our articles from past years:

If you want even more, just search up procrastination in our search bar and scroll away! Happiest of finals to you all.

The Wesleying Dark Ages are Over….

Friends, families, lovers and more…..

For 16 long, dark, and cold (like actually so cold why is this November so brutal???) days, there was darkness in the Wesleying world. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Wesleying’s site went down, and absolute chaos in the world ensued. It was like the purge. It was a bloodbath. We will never be the same.

JK, but the site did go down and after two weeks of your favorite editors tirelessly working to identify the issue and solve it, we are back and better than ever! So please, go calculate how you can stretch your remaining 5 points over the remaining three weeks, and stay tuned for procrastination destination, food reviews, and more to come.

We hope you missed us. We certainly missed you.

Xoxo <3

Unofficial Orientation 2022: Being Green

Another repost of a repost of a repost of a repost of a repost of Samira‘s two updates of DMZ‘s original 2012 post. Don’t worry, though, because this article is like those pine trees you’re gonna save by reducing your printing use: Evergreen.

This is part of our 2022 Unofficial Orientation Series. A quick reminder that you can check out the welcome post here and past years’ series here.

If you came to Wesleyan because of some vague, or obvious, interest in environmentalism, then you’re in luck! If you find the right people, organizations, classes, etc. then you’ll have a great support system for keeping green on campus. If you thought it was impressive that the admissions building has solar panels on top of it (mostly a ploy to get environmentalist students to apply), then you’ll have a great time getting involved with sustainability efforts at Wes.

First of all, Wesleyan has a sustainability coordinator, whose role is to help further Wesleyan’s mission of sustainability, including making things clearer to you. Her name is Jen Kleindienst and you can send her an email at jkleindienst(at)wes. For any and all questions regarding sustainability, you should also check out Wesleyan’s sustainability website

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