ARIEL THOMAS ’11, JAMAAL TAYLOR ’11, ANDY HECKEL ’11, MATT CANDAL ’11
Describe your WesFest experience in one sentence.
AT: I could do it in one word actually: chalking. And I thought, “This is awesome. I want to go here.”
AH: I would say probably Foss Hill.
AT: I remember the a cappella. They were awesome.
JT: Oh, and I remember going to this awesome improv show in WestCo Café! [Editor’s note: I think he meant Lunchbox]
MC: I didn’t come for WesFest, but the first time I visited was the weekend of the Sex Party. In general, I just loved the atmosphere and the environment.
MARY LAURAN HALL ’10, MARK MCCLOUGHAN ’10
What was your first impression of Wesleyan?
MH: I just basically felt really great vibes from people, which sounds really stoner-ish. But it just seemed like people were really happy…ok, that sounds really stoner-ish, too.
MM: Yeah, I guess I also just felt like people seemed really happy here. I was like, “Well, ok, I’ll probably be happy here, too.”
Do you feel like your first impressions were right?
MH: Well, the vibes thing, yes. But I visited a class while I was here and it was absolutely terrible. But I knew it wasn’t representative of all of the classes here, obviously. I think if I had been sort of neutral about Wesleyan in general, it might have turned me off, but I already had such a good impression of it.
MM: Oh, I definitely didn’t go to any classes while I was visiting. I basically just spent an hour on Foss Hill and I was like, “This is nice.”
What is your favorite spot on campus?
MM: I really like going and spending the afternoon at Long Lane [Farm] and just spending time outside. And also going into the graveyard at midnight and sacrificing chickens.
MH: I really like the second floor of Olin when you can sit down on the side and look down on the first floor and outside.
What has been your favorite class at Wesleyan?
MH: Oh, Westerns! It’s awesome. But the professor is leaving so no one will be able to take that. Haha oh well.
MM: Intro to Experimental Music. The professor was great—I just loved that class. For my final project, I just ripped up tin foil into little bits. It’s great being able to experiment like that for a class.
TIMUR KHANACHET ’11
What was your first impression of Wesleyan?
I couldn’t come to WesFest because I had a crew race. But the first time I visited, I did the info session and stuff and I actually hated it. The lady who did the info session just seemed like a complete ditz, and it gave me kind of a bad impression. But the more I saw of Wes outside of the [Office of Admission], the more I liked it. I guess my one piece of advice would be to spend as much time outside of tour stuff as possible. Tours are really an appeal to the parents. Prefrosh should just remember that the tours are to convince your parents to part with their money.
ELLEN DINSMORE ’08, ANNALISA KELLY ’08
What was your WesFest experience like?
AK: It actually really influenced me positively. I was really impressed, I guess, with how students were clever and smart without being snobby or pretentious.
What was your first impression of Wesleyan?
ED: When I was looking at colleges, this was probably like my first tour and it was all rainy and dismal. And I just remember being very distracted by the fact that the tour guide was walking backwards. And I was kind of freaked out by the ponchos they gave us. I was like, “Where am I?”
How does it feel being done with your senior thesis?
ED: It’s kind of anticlimactic. Now I just realize how behind I am in, like, all of my classes.
What will you miss most about Wesleyan?
AK: I think I will really miss having access to so much information.
ED: A lot of my friends I speak French or Spanish with…I don’t know if I’ll be able to find that as much away from Wes.
What is your favorite spot on campus?
AK: I really like the big windows of Crowell.
ED: Probably the Butt B roof.
SAEID VAHIDI ’09
Did you come to WesFest?
I was here for the student of color weekend.
What were your first impressions of Wes?
When I first visited, it was more of a personal experience more than anything else. I was very aware of the fact that I was entering another phase of my life. I think I thought I was going to college and everyone was just going to be really mature. At first, I think, I was really quiet and reserved. But over WesFest I think I started to talk more. I definitely felt the warmth around me. I got to stay in 200 Church, which was really cool. It was a really strong group there, and I felt really embraced.
Do you think your first impressions were right?
I was definitely wrong about everyone else being mature and me not being. I’ve definitely come more into my own. I came to Wesleyan wanting to do literature and stuff, but I was a little bit unsure because of what you can do with it and stuff. Then, since being here, I was finally like, “Fuck it, I like it.”
What’s your favorite spot on campus?
Has everyone said the hill? Well, could I have a projected favorite spot? Definitely my house next year.
DREW FLANAGAN ’11
How would you summarize your WesFest experience?
Well, maybe it’s just the fact that the baseball team is on the field right now, but the first thing that comes to mind is watching the Wesleyan team get creamed by Bowdoin in a double header. That was my first experience with Wesleyan sports. It was just so sad.
What was your first impression of Wesleyan?
The first person I ever met at Wesleyan, I was walking up Foss Hill and this guy came up to me and said, “Hey! Wanna hit up this bong?” That was literally the first interaction I had with anyone at this school who wasn’t a prefrosh.
What was the main thing that made you want to come to Wesleyan?
I think it’s the same for a lot of people, but it was basically the other prefrosh I met and the theoretical idea of going to college with them. I was also one of those people who was just a little obsessed with the school. It was basically a vibe thing. I applied Early Decision (ED) and got deferred, so then I had to decide if I wanted to apply ED2 to Haverford or stick with Wesleyan. At Haverford, it’s such a small, contained environment that if people are lame, there’s no one to judge them and help them realize they’re lame. Here, you’re lame but people judge you, but then they’re lame, too, and you can judge them. It works out perfectly.