In the popular imagination, Wesleyan students spend their days frolicking around campus in the nude. We know that only happens on the last day of classes.
While many students spend reading week studying, the grace period before finals has, for others, become synonymous with debauchery and procrastination.
The naked party, in particular, has become a hallmark of reading week. Held on the last day of classes each semester, the naked party has become a rite of passage of sorts. Many students have attended at least one, if not for stress-relief, then due to sheer curiosity.
“A lot of people showed up,” said Arielle Cohen ’07, who lived in Earth House last year, where the party was held. “We had a very eclectic crowd—everyone from members of Earth House and their friends to half the men’s soccer team. It was a clean party. There was one couple that made out and my housemate shot them with a water gun.”
From Public Safety’s point of view, however, raucousness is more the exception than the rule during finals week. According to David Meyer, associate director of Public Safety, the hub of activity during reading week is not any house party, but the Science Center at two in the morning.
“Students change their schedules, so our activity changes,” Meyer said, who has been working the late-night shift for over twenty years. “By one or two in the morning the Science Center is the center of activity.”
Reading week can be particularly stressful for first-year students, who may not be accustomed to collegiate workloads and still may not know what is expected of them.
“They’re probably more stressed out about navigating finals week successfully,” said Lisa Currie, director of health education at WesWell. “If you’re a junior or senior you know how to manage finals week but you have to worry about classes for your major and thesis projects.”
Anticipation often proves most daunting.
“I’ve been really stressed out,” said Anna Pachner ’09. “I feel like it’s more the impending fear of finals week than the work itself.”
On the other hand, some freshmen are finding that ignorance is bliss, at least until finals week rolls around.
“Many of them [my residents] look forward to reading week and the fun associated with it,” said Meng Liu ’07, an RA in Clark. “Some of them have told me that they’re going to get hammered during reading week.”
Some students report that their final assignments are due before classes have ended. In these rare cases, reading week becomes a time for students to congratulate themselves on a job well done.
“I have been stressed this semester because, with one exception, all of my final papers, tests, and presentations are due before reading week!” said Alison Wilcox ’07. “In the past I have appreciated and used reading week to its full potential. [Now] it seems the teachers felt that it would be better to give themselves reading week to grade my assignments than to allow me to use it to work on them.”
For other students in this situation, the disruption of the reading week social scene is of greater importance.
“I have a final this Sunday morning!” said Radoslava Petrova ’07. “Saturday is a big party night with semi-formals and I’ll be stuck studying. Isn’t that crazy?”
In the meantime Currie recommends that students focus on responding efficiently to stress.
“It’s not really what the source of their stress is,” Currie said. “It’s how they’re reacting to it. Whether it’s short term, such as stopping every hour or so during studying, or in the long term, like developing better sleeping habits, the most important thing is how the student reacts to the stressor they’re experiencing.”
On Wednesday night WesWell will host “Stress-Free Zone,” an evening of food and activities designed to relieve overwhelmed students. This year, the event, which will take place in the MPR, will include a breakfast buffet, games, a card-making station, and, back by popular demand, chair massages.
“Students can take a few minutes’ rest and go back to their work feeling refreshed,” Currie said.
Students will also be able to watch the “America’s Next Top Model” reunion show on the Campus Center’s large screen.
“You can see Kim even though she’s off the show now!” Currie said.
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