Jen
Hometown: Newton, Massachusetts
Major: English
Minors: Hispanic Studies and Education
Activities on campus
Here on campus, I spend a great deal of time with my A cappella group, the Wheatones. Along with that, I am the Dean's Intern of Academic Advising, and help to run the Preceptor program. In the past I have also been a tour guide for the Office of Admissions. I have learned that the best way to become a part of the Wheaton community is to get involved with as many clubs, jobs and organizations as possible!
Internships/work experience
Since returning from Costa Rica, I began to find ways in which I could gain similar experiences here in the U.S. Over the past summer I interned at a Latino Family and Youth Center in Washington, D.C. At Centrona, I assisted teachers in the bilingual charter school, taught at the summer program, and helped to run and organize a volunteer based tutoring program, for young children of immigrant families.
What did you do in the fall before arriving at Wheaton?
I saw my January admittance as an opportunity to gain an amazing abroad experience before entering college. During a visit to Wheaton, I was referred to the Filene Center for Work and Learning to receive some guidance regarding my first semester. After only a few short meetings and emails, I had been enrolled in the Cross Cultural Solutions Volunteer Abroad Program. I packed up my belongings, and moved to Costa Rica for the semester, to a rural mountain town in Alajuela, called San Carlos. My weeks in San Carlos were packed with three jobs, dance class, Spanish class, cooking class, and of course plenty of travel. I became the first English teacher at Escuela San Gerardo, a two room school house, located in the hills below a dormant volcano. Twice a week I worked at a government funded preschool, for children from low income families. During the evenings I spent my time at a home for abused teenage girls, called Mariano Juvenil. By the time I arrived at Wheaton, in snowy January, I had gained a great deal of life experience, and was excited to begin my college career.
How was the transition as a January student?
Despite worries and concerns, I experienced an extremely seamless transition into Wheaton as a January freshman. While most incoming freshmen frantically search for a niche and community at college, January students were placed in one automatically. With a small group of people, we quickly became connected, and shared our exciting stories from the semester before. We grew to be proud of our January student status, and embraced this role as a special and unique one. We often found that the members of our class were excited to meet us, and welcome us to the school. Having this small group of bonded January Students to rely on made my transition to Wheaton a painless one.
Will you graduate with your class?
This year I will graduate in May, along with the rest of my class. In order to ensure that this would happen, I took summer courses at Northeastern University, and took extra classes during three of my semesters here at Wheaton.
Favorite Wheaton experience
Although this will sound cliche, it is difficult for me to pick one favorite Wheaton experience, because there have been so many. One of my favorite yearly experiences here would be the Lyons Pride Night. This takes place on the first evening that new first year students have moved onto campus (there is a similar smaller version of this event for January Students, don't worry!). The upper classmen arrive at the chapel early, and are assigned one of the three balconies that occupy the second floor. Each balcony is decorated with the class color, and the members of each class are dressed from head to toe in their colors. The different classes cheer and chant wildly as they wait for the new freshmen to enter the building. Finally, after the upper classmen have almost lost their voices from screaming, the freshmen enter the chapel, dressed in their newly acquired class color. The sophomores, juniors and seniors cheer to them from up above, drop balloons, silly string, and bang on the pews, welcoming them to our campus. Eventually the entire freshmen class is seated below the upper classmen, and they are encouraged to show their own class pride along with the rest of the classes. Once everything has quieted down, the Wheaton ghost stories, myths, and traditions are shared with the new students. The upper classmen help with sound effects from above. The ceremony is concluded when the freshmen gather in a circle around Peacock Pond, and light candles one at a time. Eventually, the entire pond is lit up by a circle of candles, and the class has been initiated into Wheaton. These candles are saved and cherished until the last day of each student's senior year, in which they will gather around the pond once again to light their candles together, one last time.