Tag Archives: freshmen

The Unofficial Orientation Series: WesLingo

Lost and Confused Signpost

Hey! You! Over there, with the brand new Wesleyan University 2018 shirt on… You don’t have to sound like a freshman just because you are one…

Bad news: you’re gonna have to relearn the names of the buildings you spent the summer memorizing off the campus map.

Good news: Wesleying is here to help. We present to you: a comprehensive guide to faking it.

Almost every building on campus has acquired some kind of nickname over the past 100-and-something years that Wesleyan students have spent on the hallowed grounds of Middletown, CT. There are the chop-and-shorten nicknames, the Wes-suffix-words, a few almost-funny-jokes, and one very famous ass-pun… We’ve outlined (almost) all of them to help alleviate the gripping terror and confusion of your first few weeks at college.

Unofficial Orientation Series: Dorm Living FAQ

This post is a repost of a repost of a repost of a repost. Dorm Life never changes much. Unless Fauver becomes Bennett.

dormlyfe

Dear frosh,

At this point in the summer, you are probably fretting over things like 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. Last year’s Unofficial Orientation Series Dorm Living post  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 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). This re-vamped guide is up to date and full of Wesjargon:

Yet Another Prefrosh Perspective on WesFest: “Everybody Seemed So Optimistic”

“Unlike some colleges, there was no sense of a huge ‘stress’ cloud looming over the student body.”

Yet another prefrosh has written in to share some thoughts on the WesFest experience. For previous prefrosh perspectives, click here or here. Here’s Anna Lu ’17, an incoming freshman who first visited Wesleyan at the age of 12:

No words can properly describe Wesleyan. The first time I came to campus was at the age of 12 for my first championship swim meet. Being stuck at a swim meet for the entire day, I took the liberty to explore this mysterious college campus. As the years went by, I narrowed down the necessities of my future college: I’ve loved the idea of having a small liberal arts college in the northeast, an eclectic student body, and a strong science program. Wes fit that perfectly. I took a recruiting trip during the fall and that solidified all previous notions of it being my top choice.

Another Prefrosh Perspective on WesFest: “Stay Golden, Wes”

“Being on campus, surrounded by this incredible enthusiasm, and sometimes the necessary jadedness that comes with facilitating a community like this, was what really confirmed my decision to attend Wesleyan.”

Our second prefrosh perspective on WesFest comes from Molly Hastings ’17, a member of the Class of 2017 from Santa Cruz, California. If you’re a prefrosh and you want to write a guest post about WesFest, send it to us at staff(at)wesleying(dot)org. Here’s “Prefrosh Molly”:

My WesFest started out without a bang, as I waited in the San Jose airport for five hours due to air traffic delays. But my excitement rose as I lined up to board the plane, almost seeing Connecticut outside on the horizon, though it was another hour until I actually boarded the plane due to a missing first officer.

After a bumpy ride in, between a man who repeatedly offered me twizzlers and a woman who played Rat on a Scooter for what seemed like the entire flight, I arrived in Boston. It took me another two hours to actually get to Wesleyan, during which I hyped myself up by alternating between taking twenty-minute naps and reading my acceptance letter, feeling slightly confused.

An Interview with Julia Clemens ’16, Who Has the Worst GRS Number Currently In Existence at Wesleyan

“I’m hoping I won’t be put into a double with a freshman or anything. Maybe I will end up in Hewitt!”

Pictured: Julia Clemens '16 standing in front of a tractor that is almost definitely more spacious than wherever she ends up living next year. (JK, summer housing works out pretty well sometimes.)

Pictured: Julia Clemens ’16 standing in front of a tractor that is almost definitely more spacious than wherever she ends up living next year. (JK, summer housing works out pretty well sometimes.)

GRS is currently in full swing, and if past years’ experiences are any indication, it will be a stressful, random, and thoroughly hellish week, full of broken promises, ruined friendships, and confusing numbers to decipher.* No one is really entirely sure how GRS really works, except Director of ResLife Fran Koerting, who, according to campus legend, wrote down all of the secrets of GRS on a piece of printer paper in 1986 and then buried it in her front yard so no one else could find it,** and possibly Ben Cohen ’10, who wrote out this exhaustive guide to housing options that I am linking here for your convenience. It’s pretty outdated, and Wesleying is too busy interviewing thesis writers to update it, so make of it what you will.

On the bright side, there’s good news: I don’t have to deal with that shit this year there is sometimes free pizza. The other good news is that as bad as your GRS number is, you still have it better than Julia Clemens ’16, an unsuspecting freshman who has been cursed with the worst GRS number that exists on campus: 590. Clemens, who is pictured above standing in front of a tractor that may or may not be more spacious than her future living quarters, seems to be handling the situation pretty well. Instead of standing in the middle of Andrus moaning “Why meeeee,” she admits that “it’s kind of hilarious” and hopes to fare okay in the summer housing market (as students often do). “My mom wanted to ‘make a fuss,'” Clemens admits, “but I told her I didn’t think that would help.” (It wouldn’t.)

Here is our full interview with Julia Clemens ’16, Owner of the Worst GRS Number Currently In Existence at Wesleyan.

Applications to Wesleyan Surge by 4.18%

I googled “college admissions stock photo” and this is what came up. Can you dig it?

It’s been a rather turbulent few days for Wesleyan in the news, so here’s some positive news for a change. According to the New York Times’ The Choice blog (which has been surging along since the recent departure of its dear leader/resident Wesleyan hound Jacques Steinberg), total applications to Wesleyan rose by 4.18% for a total of 10,942 applicants for fall 2013. Since we’re all suckers for a good comparison chart, here’s how that stacks up with a few peer institutions:

It’s a comfortable leap (and eerily close to last year’s 4.5% rise in applications), but it’s nothing compared to Skidmore’s freakish 42% rise in applications.

Valentine’s Day Post-Mortem, Part Two: A Freshman’s Perspective

Pictured: chocolate valentines from mom. Really.

Pictured: chocolate valentines from mom. Really.

Valentine’s Day kind of fizzled out when I was in high school. The teachers stopped handing out candy, and unless you had a significant other, the only thing you cared about was your chemistry exam that day. With the occasional joke about being single and forever alone, Valentine’s Day had disappeared as a fun, childhood holiday, expected to make a revival when I got a boyfriend who’d forget to buy flowers.

I expected college to be the same, especially a college like Wesleyan where today’s hookup mentality has been fully embraced. I figured it’d be a nonissue.

Boy, was I wrong.

The hype started on the first day of the semester, when my social psychology professor changed up the syllabus so we’d study interpersonal attraction on this most special of days. I thought that was cute, not realizing how exhausting it would be by the time Valentine’s Day actually rolled around.

A few days ago, the fliers and notices started going out about all the different Valentine’s Day fundraisers and events on campus: a cappella serenades, candy grams, and four-course meals at Usdan. But Wesleyan doesn’t only cater to couples—there’s also a “Fuck Valentines Day” singles Slowdance performance (which I can’t help but wish was actually a bunch of people waltzing without partners).

Personal Librarian Freshman and Transfer Student Reception

Dame Diane KlareHead of Reference at Olin Library and the library’s subject specialist for Psychology and Economics, writes:

The library will be offering a drop-in reception for freshmen and transfer students so those new to campus can meet their very own “personal librarian” and learn more about the library.

Date: Thursday, October 11
Time: 4:00-5:30 PM
Place: Smith Reading Room – Olin Library

Weekend Recap: Jurassic, Foam, and More

Unfortunately, this weekend did not start on a Wednesday given the tropical downpour that trapped Nest-goers indoors because their housemates thought the rain a good excuse to curl up and watch Dexter. Thursday passed in the same depressing mode, but Wesleyan stepped up to the plate on Friday, serving up a rowdy crowd at the packed Jurassic Park screening at the Goldsmith Family Cinema. Enthusiastic sophomore Trevor Dorn-Wallenstein ’15 even dressed the part in a dino onesie. Good for him.

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An hour after movie-goers stumbled out of the family cinema, people began to congregate at Senior Fauver and whatever silent party was going on on Fountain. Digression: What is up with Fountain this year? Where are the fun parties?