Tag Archives: senior stuff

EVENT
Library workshops for senior thesis and essay writers

"Portrait of clever student with open book reading it in college library"

“Portrait of clever student with open book reading it in college library”

For any lost seniors out there:

The library is offering workshops for seniors writing a thesis or an essay. Topics include finding resources here and elsewhere, discovering specialized resources, interlibrary loans, reference services, EndNote, and more.

Sessions will be offered on Monday 9/28, Tuesday 9/29, Wednesday 9/30, and Thursday 10/1 at 11:00, 1:00, and
3:00 each day. No need to sign up ahead of time. Choose a date and time convenient for you and join a group for a 45 minute info session at Olin Library’s reference office. Attendees will be granted expanded interlibrary loan privileges.

Dates: Monday, September 28 through Thursday, October 1
Times: 11 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM each day
Place: Olin Library

EVENT
Senior Voices Pre-Graduation Ceremony

11128794_2601616604106_8755473955718247919_nFrom Jenna Starr ’15:

Join your fellow graduating class for a special ceremony the evening before graduation! And of course, bring your family! We will be having senior student speakers Jenna Starr, Camille Casareno, and Jasmine Masand as well as a special speech by Robert Steele, Professor of Psychology.

Robert Steele earned his B.A. in biology from Whitman College in 1968 and his Ph.D., in 1973, from Harvard University, in Psychology and Social Relations. His research interests are broad, ranging from his book, Freud and Jung: Conflicts of Interpretation, to his work as Director of Diversity Connections, the interactive digital data base, for the Ford Foundation’s Initiative on Diversity in Higher Education.

He was honored as the first recipient of the Edgar Beckham Helping Hand Award for his “outstanding work” and “commitment to social justice” in 2013 and in 2014 with the Binswanger Prize for Excellent in Teaching.

For thirty years, in classes ranging from Cultural Psychology to Myth, Magic and Movies (Harry Potter class), his teaching has focused on working with students to understand the ways in which sexism, racism and classism shape our society’s representations of differing demographic groups and warp our individual preferences and prejudices.

Date: Saturday, May 23
Time: 6-7 PM
Place: Memorial Chapel
FB event.

Design Senior T-Shirt, Win Free Senior Pass

From the Senior Gift Chairs:

Win the GOLDEN TICKET!!

Want a free senior pass?!?! All you have to do is design the winning senior t-shirt design. It’s fantastic that the passes are so much cheaper this year, but do you know what’s even cheaper than $120? FREE.

You can submit a design as an individual or as a house (or as any other group you can think of, as long as it’s 5 people or less). If your design is picked to be the ’09 senior tee, you’ll win the GOLDEN TICKET! Which is to say, you get to go to all the senior cocks for free. Really, you just can’t lose. The only guidelines are that the shirt must say “Wesleyan Fund” and “Class of ’09” somewhere on it. Also, no profanities and nothing too obscene.

Questions? Email Anand at tsv(at)wesleyan(dot)edu or any of the ’09 Senior Gift Chairs: Emily Avener (eavener), Erik Underwood (eunderwood), and Jen Matthews (jmatthews). Submissions are due to tsv(at)wesleyan(dot)edu by 8 AM on Monday the 20th. Good luck!

Fact Check: Commencement Proposal

This just in from the WSA, addressing some of the concerns and misunderstandings expressed earlier on Wesleying and in the Argus:

Myth: The WSA is barring Senior Class President Ravid Chowdhury ’09 from speaking during commencement.
Fact: The proposed resolution would not go into effect for the Class of 2009. Ravid would still speak during the 2009 commencement. Future Senior Class Presidents would be eligible to speak during commencement, as would all other graduating seniors.


Myth: The WSA will not allow future Senior Class Presidents to speak during commencement because committee members cannot apply.
Fact: When the resolution goes into effect in 2010, all Senior Class Officers will have the right to apply to speak during commencement, including the Senior Class President.

Myth: Unlike other schools which allow any senior to apply, the WSA only wants WSA members to be in the running to speak during commencement.
Fact: Any member of the senior class would be eligible to speak during commencement, and the committee would be required to consider all applications.

Myth: The senior class president is currently elected to and has the right to speak during commencement.

Fact: The resolution would potentially alter the tradition of the senior class president speaking during commencement. However, this tradition is an expectation and not a right laid forth by the WSA Constitution, which clearly states that “the officers of the Senior Class shall be the search committee for the Senior Class’s commencement speaker”. Furthermore, Senior Class Presidents rarely make mention of commencement during his election campaign. Many juniors have never been to a commencement and are unaware that in electing their senior class president they are also choosing a commencement speaker.


Myth: The WSA is creating a small, undemocratic committee of WSA members to choose the commencement speaker.
Fact: The committee would be democratically elected by the Senior Class when they vote to elect the Senior Class Officers (including President) at the end of their junior year. Senior Class Officers are elected to represent their entire class and are separate from the WSA.

Myth: The Senior Class will lose their voice in selecting which of their members speaks during commencement.
Fact: The Senior Class commencement speaker would be selected by the Senior Class Officers, who are the democratically elected representatives of the Senior Class.

Myth: The WSA was hoping to sneak this change by without anybody noticing.
Fact: The WSA has not yet held a vote or even a discussion on the proposed resolution. The proposal is a working draft and it was emailed to all students on campus, and it is also accessible in your e-Portfolio and on the WSA home page. The WSA is also reaching out via Wesleying and going door-to-door to raise awareness about the proposal.

Myth: The WSA doesn’t want your input on the resolution.

Fact: The WSA has consulted with current Senior Class President Ravid Chowdhury ’09 on multiple occasions about the resolution. The WSA is paying very close attention to what people have to say about the proposal and has invited the entire campus to participate in the first discussion of the matter, which will occur at the next General Assembly meeting, Sunday at 7pm in Usdan 108. You can also talk to any WSA representative or email your concerns to wsa@wesleyan.edu. Your input will determine the contents of the resolution as it moves towards a vote, as well as the outcome of that vote!

Wear your seniority on your sleeve

Anand Satchidanandan ’08 writes:

Every year, the Wesleyan Fund makes the senior class a T-shirt in recognition of their senior gift. This year’s “Senior Tee” needs a funky, smart, absolutely senior-esque design that showcases Wes ‘09ers.

Winners of the contest will receive a free Senior Pass courtesy of the Wesleyan Fund! Designs:

  • Must encourage financially supporting Wesleyan
  • Must contain the words “Wesleyan Fund”
  • Can use up to 3 colors on a white background
  • Can use both the front and back of the T-shirt
  • Cannot contain profanity, offensive language, or slurs

Designs are due by October 1 at 4:00 PM. Winners will be selected and informed by mail, and will receive recognition at senior class events in the spring. Please mail/email your name, class year, contact details, and designs to:

Anand Satchidanandan
Wesleyan Fund
164 Mount Vernon St.
tsv@wes

Senior cookout (bring a cup)

Saeid Vahidi ’09 writes:

There will be grills, there will be free hamburgers, there will be free hot dogs, there will be free veggie burgers, there will be fun in the sun. In short, I am inviting all of you, the class of ’09, to the Senior BBQ. There will also be lemonade, iced tea, and probably soda. However, this year we’re asking you to provide your own cups, so as to cut down on the massive pollution that is often the aftermath of merrymaking in large groups.

If it rains, the cookout will be rescheduled to the following Thursday.

Date: Sunday, Sept. 14
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Backyards on Pine and Fountain

Apply for a Job as a Senior Gift Chair

Senior Class Gift Chair jobs are available for seniors:

Each year Wesleyan’s graduating Seniors give a gift back to Wesleyan through a Senior Gift. The Senior Gift is coordinated by Senior Gift Co-Chairs and a committee of dedicated Seniors who want to build their class legacy.


This year, we are looking for enthusiastic, innovative, and outgoing personalities who will get a chance to design, manage, and execute a public education campaign on philanthropy and The Wesleyan Fund. In addition to dealing with real money, real people, and real targets, Senior Gift Co-Chairs will be invited to join the Cardinal Council, network with Trustees, and Alumni.


If you’re up for a challenging, and rewarding experience, this is it!


Co-chair-specific responsibilities include:

· Designing a marketing plan to educate classmates about the Senior Gift, focusing on mailings, flyers, E-mails, phone calls and most importantly, establishing personal contacts

· Recruiting a committee of campaigners to solicit pledges throughout the year

· Serve as a class liaison to the Cardinal Council


Both work-study and non-work-study students are eligible for this position.


Hours: Flexible. On average, 4-5 hours/week.

Pay: $ 8.00 / hr

Start Date: ASAP


For an application, more information and/or to schedule an interview, please contact:

Anand Satchidanandan ‘08

Assistant Director, The Wesleyan Fund

164 Mt. Vernon St., Middletown, CT 06459

Phone: 860-685-4840

Fax: 860-685-3920

Email: tsv@wesleyan.edu

How do you pronounce "Holly Wood"?

Check out this A+ guilt trip. My mother doesn’t even do it this well.

Senior!

Why won’t you call in your name pronunciation? For us it seems a simple request. Now Wesleyan dollars that could be used for scholarships, paying workers, providing community resources, etc. need to be used to track you down and get you to call in. NEVER have so many seniors refused to let the name readers know how to pronounce their names. I am bewildered. Please call in your name. Call 685-2005.

Suzanne O’Connell
Faculty Marshall

Edit: My housemate just reminded me about how they accidentally DELETED ALL THE MESSAGES from the first round of people who called in…

Congratulations Thesis Writers! (Part 2)

As a thesis writer myself, I wanted to share this poem with the Wesleying readership because it describes pretty excellently what I and many others went through today. I’m specifically directing this toward everyone who turned in a thesis, but it also applies to anyone who’s ever worked really hard on a paper or problem set or some other undertaking, stayed up way too late, and then experienced the rush of turning it in. Which is… pretty much everyone who reads this blog.

Trying To Write
by Elizabeth Smart

That day i finished
A small piece
For an obscure magazine
I popped it in the box

And such a starry elation
Came over me
That I got whistled at in the street
For the first time in a long time.

I was dirty and roughly dressed
And had circles under my eyes
And far far from flirtation
But so full of completion
Of a deed duly done
An act of consummation
That the freedom and force it engendered
Shone and spun
Out of my old raincoat.

It must have looked like love
Or a fabulous free holiday
To the young men sauntering
Down Berwick Street.
I still think this is most mysterious
For while I was writing it
It was gritty it felt like self-abuse
Constipation, desperately unsocial.
But done done done
Everything in the world
Flowed back
Like a huge bonus.