Taryn
Hometown: North Yarmouth, Maine
Major: Psychology
Minor: Hispanic Studies
Activities on campus
Caterer, Safe Zone trainee, trainer and member
Internships/work experience
When I arrived at Wheaton I began working as a caterer for Aramark Dining Services. Sophomore summer I attended school and did not work a regular job, but instead volunteered at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in the psychiatric ward where I worked several days a week for six months. When I finished at Dartmouth I returned home for a short break before returning to Wheaton in the spring and began to substitute teach. I continue to substitute on my winter breaks and the month of May. I teach K-8th grade and I absolutely love spending time with the children. I am still unsure what exactly I would like to do with my psychology degree once I graduate. I will use my senior year at Wheaton to continue my exploration in the many fields of my study, and in the future I anticipate great things to come.
What did you do in the fall before arriving at Wheaton?
The fall semester of my junior year in high school I studied abroad in Quillota, Chile, located in the central region of the country. When I was accepted to Wheaton for January the hairs on my body stood on end: the window frame of time before entrance in January gave me the perfect opportunity to expand my travels, not only to return to Chile, but also visit other countries in South America. Knowing that I would receive no funding, much less support for my trip, I searched all summer for jobs that would suffice the costs of travel. Finally at the end of the summer I landed work as a sternwoman on a lobster boat. For two months I awoke at 4 a.m. to pack bait into bags and band lobsters. In mid-September I booked my flight to Chile. In the next four months I traveled throughout Chile, to Argentina, and finally to Uruguay. When I returned to the States I was feeling refreshed and motivated to begin school at Wheaton in January. Now I think, "If only I had had the year!"
How was the transition as a January student?
I will never forget meeting my roommates freshman year who were also January Admits and conversing with them on the topics of classes, meeting new people, dining services, etc. We were all somewhat clueless, but I learned later that being "clueless" comes with the territory of being a freshman in a completely new environment. In the end, some of my best friends to this day are those who were admitted in January as well. Otherwise, entering school in the winter is just like entering school in the fall, except you have a smaller and more personal orientation, and there are no leaves on the trees. Many people I had class with thought that I was a junior who had gone abroad and returned, and even some seniors thought so. Overall, when a new face enters the crowd in the middle of the year it mixes things up a bit and makes life for the students who are already there more interesting. What you will observe as a January Admit is that many people will want to be your friend and hear of your experiences in the fall and that fitting in is far from an issue.
Will you graduate with your class? How did you make up the semester?
I will graduate with my class in 2008. Wheaton is part of a program called the 12 College Exchange. For the fall of my junior year most of my friends were traveling abroad, but I knew that I had the abroad experience already under my belt from high school and I truly could not imagine living with any other host family than the one I acquired in Chile. So instead I applied to Dartmouth College through the College Exchange. One of the regulations in the application is that you attend the school for however many terms you wish (up to a year), but that one of them be a summer term. Fortunately at Dartmouth they offer "Sophomore Summer" where all Dartmouth sophomores attend school in the summer before junior year. It was during that summer last year where I took a full course load, similar to Wheaton‚s, and gained a semester's worth of credits that I had missed my freshman year before entering in January. I have come out of Dartmouth with a different perspective on college life, especially the Greek System, which fortunately, in my opinion, does not exist at Wheaton.
Favorite Wheaton experience
The small and intimate courses, the interactions with professors, and the formation of incredible friendships with people from all of the country and not to mention, the world, have created the ultimate Wheaton experience for me. One final aspect that I appreciate greatly about Wheaton is the closely-knit community, and not only among students but staff as well.