Tag Archives: Unofficial Orientation Series

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Unofficial Orientation 2022: Dorm Living 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 Night 1)

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 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.

Dear frosh of 2026,

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 2019: Student Groups

This is a repost of a repost of wilk‘s update of michelle‘s update of Maya‘s 2015 post, which was an update of alt‘s 2014 post, which was an update of Q‘s 2013 post, which was an update of Syed‘s 2012 post. 

            This is the annual student activities fair, where you can schmooze or, more likely, be schmoozed to your heart’s content.

This is part of our 2019 Unofficial Orientation Series. A quick reminder that you can check out the welcome post here and past years’ series here.

By the time classes start, you’ll likely be successfully moved into your dorm, blissfully free from your parents, and finally finding the time to figure your shit out. Soon, you’ll realize that you have a little too much time on your hands — and you might want to fill that time with Organized Social Activities.

Thankfully for you, there are about 300 student groups at Wesleyan, so you have many, many options. Joining student groups is one of the best way to meet people outside of your dorm and in different class years. You could find best friends! Mentors! Something new about yourself! It’s all up to you.

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Unofficial Orientation 2019: Middletown Eating

This is an updated repost of michelle’s repost of sophie’s repost of maya‘s repost. Please note: this is by no means an exhaustive list of eating options in Middletown, as this perfunctory Yelp search will show you. Feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments! 

This is part of our 2019 Unofficial Orientation Series. A quick reminder that you can check out the welcome post here and past years’ series here.

Middletown has so many fantastic dining options that at first you might feel like this turtle: faced with an almost insurmountable mountain of deliciousness. Much like the above turtle, though, you’ve got to start somewhere. We’re here to give you a head start.

From coffee-shop casual to awkward-family-dinner upscale, there’s food in Middletown for every occasion. This is our guide to some of the best places to eat in town.  Prices are on a $ to $$$ scale. Also worth noting is that a lot of Middletown restaurants accept Middletown Cash, so save up some of that laundry money for your dining excursions. Wesleyan also provides a nifty guide to restaurants in and around Middletown, if you need more guidance (though theirs doesn’t come with student feedback and that special Wesleying flair)! Read all of our food list after the jump!

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Unofficial Orientation Series 2019: Middletown Outings

This is an update of wilk‘s update of his previous post!

 

 

Toto, we’re not in Bushwick anymore. You’ve now left the comfort of deep Brooklyn, as they call it, for the not-so-dissimilar milieu of Wesleyan. Just kidding, a vast majority of Weskids are from not-Brooklyn, not-LA, and not-Bay-Area, although it might seem otherwise.

For all of you from those (wonderful) places, and all of you from other places, Middletown is different than those places (shocking!). It was once the largest city in Connecticut, circa pre-war-of-1812. Can your hometown claim that title? Nah. Unless you’re from Middletown, in which case you are probably way more qualified than me to write this post.

While Wesleyan is fine and there is usually never a shortage of things to do on campus, Middletown and the surrounding area truly have some wonderful gems that are worth knowing about as you settle in and look for things to do other than vape on Foss.

And if you’re really bold and somehow have an abundance of time before finals arrive, there’s some cool shit beyond the local area too.  Here’s the 2019 Outing guide, advice from a Connecticut local. 

 

A quick reminder that you can check out our welcome post here and past years’ series here.

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Unofficial Orientation 2019: Rage Update

There is not much more esteemed at Wes than its history of activism. Wesleying’s Rage Updates are here to welcome you all to the issues of the day, and to educate you on the issues of the past. While it seems to have been an even year sort of update for Wesleying with our first article in 2014, our second in 2016, and our third in 2018, more than enough has happened this past school year to warrant another for 2019.

As a publication and a series steeped in tradition, we must open with the eloquent words of alt, the author of our first rage update:

You’ve now arrived on campus, and we hope that you find your time here enriching and transformative. In that hope, we feel that it would be ill-advised to allow you to not have at least a foundational understanding of the things that have forced us as a community into dialogue, disagreement, and action.

This is not to scare you or to give you a negative impression of the University. However, we are certain that most if not all of you were told about the “passion” that Wesleyan students have and the issues that we care about on campus are at the forefront of those passions. While there is certainly no requirement to take an activist stance on any of these issues and it is in fact easy to sink beneath the radar on these issues and all the others not covered here, we would plead with you to be engaged in the community that you are now a part of.

Read this, ask questions, and reach out to students and faculty that have been here before you. We hope that as you begin your time here, you fully invest yourself as a community member committed to making Wesleyan as good as it can be for you and for those after you. Caring about Wesleyan does not foreclose critique on Wesleyan and as you read this, and other things like it, we hope you understand that too.

Ending this intro with a disclaimer that this article is not comprehensive, and merely serves as a taster for the Wesleyan brand of fiery social justice.

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Unofficial Orientation 2019: Being Green (it’s easy after all!)

Another 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 2019 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.

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Unofficial Orientation 2019: WesTech

This is sdz‘s repost of fakeshark‘s update of wilk‘s update of michelle‘s update of kitab‘s update of alt‘s update of pyrotechnics‘ update of lesanjuan‘s update of Syed’s 2010 post.

Before we begin, here’s where you can find the welcome post (so that you can binge read from the beginning), and here’s where you can find last year’s edition of this post.

Hello, and welcome to the 8th annual edition of the Unofficial Orientation Series. In today’s episode, we’ll be discussing everything you need to know about the World Wide Web (and all things affiliated with it). Actually, we’ll be discussing everything you need to know about the Wes Wide Web. If you’ve reached this far, you’ve proved your competence in terms of navigating through some of Wesleyan’s digital landscape. But, my dear Prefrosh, there’s so much you have to learn. That’s where I come in – I’m going to teach you about the finer things in life, and all things in the WesTech multiverse.

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Unofficial Orientation 2019: Athletic Life

This is sdz‘s update of last year’s post, which was a short update of wilk‘s short update of D‘s mostly repost of previous athletics unofficial orientation series posts.

 

This is part of our 2019 Unofficial Orientation Series. A quick reminder that you can check out the welcome post here and past years’ series here.

Some of you frosh probably don’t know that WesTech competes in the prestigious NESCAC—the most competitive D3 conference in the country. Despite the throngs of news outlets that flock to many of our sports games, you will never have to enter a lottery system or wait in a line overnight to obtain tickets. We also aren’t like these fans, and we never will be. That’s okay. Do not believe the naysayers who claim that Wesleyan students do not support or appreciate athletics. Little known fact, Wesleyan Football holds a lifetime win record against Michigan (never mind that our first and only meet was in 1883). I have personally witnessed Wes students get so fired up after a basketball loss to Trinity that we started a “safety school” chant. Not our best moment but definitely an example of caring!

Whether you’re attempting to relive your high school glory days, looking to get or stay fit (the freshman fifteen is real), or trying out a new sport, Wesleyan has what you are looking for!

Also, tune into our live Twitter chat today at 3 pm EST! We’ll answer any and all questions you may have :)

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Unofficial Orientation 2019: Health Resources on Campus

This is an re-written, re-edited, and re-updated repost from 2018 which was a repost from 2017, although ~health things~ have remained (basically) the same. The original is an updated version of a post originally written by Catherine MacLean ’14 which appeared on the Peer Advisor Blog and on Wesleying. It also includes a section on resources for survivors of sexual assault by Ryden Nelson ’16 and Chloe Murtagh ’15 and a section on the new support groups run by WeSupport by Veronica Harrington ’17.

This is part of our 2018 Unofficial Orientation Series. A quick reminder that you can check out the welcome post here and past years’ series here.

Whether you’re a prefrosh or about to start your last semester at Wesleyan you will learn something new from this post (unless you’re a health center pro).

If you think you’re going to make it through four years of a liberal arts education without once having to find some medical support do I have news for you.  This guide is made with the help of some very knowledgeable people on campus, most who have already graduated. We have gone through the post and updated everything that needs updating so you can save yourself at least a little trouble when it comes to navigating the terrain that is the Wesleyan Medical Services.  Before we begin let me stress the need to wash your hands.

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Unofficial Orientation 2019: What to Pack

This is a not highly modified repost of Fern’s post from last year 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.

 

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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