#wacstudent

Dear Traveler, It’s great to be back on campus! It is so nice to see all my friends again! Of course it is always nice to see old friends but it was great to get back to campus. Having lived in another country it is awesome to see people I know from Spain but the people here challenge my thoughts and ideas so it’s good to be back! Chestertown was also missed. I loved being in a big city but this small town is so calm and everyone is so nice that I wanted to come back (I especially missed the Dunkin Donuts here). Trivial as it might seem, I also missed listening to my music. My mom and dad have different styles that they like (and I also do) but I missed dancing and singing to pop songs with friends.

Dear Traveler, My favorite things about Chestertown are as follows, Water: The water downtown is a great place to relax and hang out with friends. The Fish Whistle is a restaurant/bar that overlooks the water and it is fun just to have lunch with friends and watch the wildlife. Weather: One great thing about Chestertown is that one day (like today) it can be 70 degrees and the next day it can be 36 degrees all day and snow. People: The people in the town are always so nice and understanding! If you go to Dunkin Donuts on a Sunday morning sometimes the employee will ask how school is doing. And when you miss your dog, you can go up to pretty much anyone who is walking their dog and they will let you play with it! College Atmosphere: For a lot of stores in Chestertown there are student discounts when you buy something. The college has a great relationship with the town and everyone is super nice to the students.

Dear Traveler, When you visit campus and schedule a tour, at the end you will receive a free lunch pass for the dining hall. You will walk through Hodson Hall and up the stairs to be greeted by welcoming staff. If you meet Ms. Veronica she will happily tell you what they are serving at My Pantry. AJ will clean your table and talk to you about wrestling. Whoever you talk to will be friendly and happy to help! The students here always find something to eat! The pizza station is open every lunch and dinner except on weekends and the toppings change every week or so. Sometimes the cooks will choose a cuisine style to make and have everything match that style. On the rare chance that there is not any hot food that appeals to you, the sandwich line is almost always open, salad is a great option, and the bread and bagels never run out. Every first Tuesday of the month the school hosts a “breakfast with the president” where a lot of the professors eat breakfast in one area and listen to President Bair and other speakers. The dining hall also has live music playing sometimes which is really cool and fun to listen to. Other times there will be a speaker playing old music, country music, or even disney music!

Dear Traveler, Roommate selection is just around the corner! I was pretty luck when I was choosing mine because she actually contacted me and asked if I would like to room with her. Since we were on the soccer team I decided that I would room with her without getting to know her first. I got lucky and we get along really well but that could have been a huge mistake. Here are some tips to help you make a good choice of roommates: 1. Fill out the roommate selection questions as accurately as possible! Make sure that whatever you answer with reflects who you are and not who you want to be. This will make it easy for you and your roommate to get a long. If you keep things clean and they said they did on the questionnaire but really don’t, you two will most likely end up parting ways very quickly. 2. Try to get in contact with them before you make a commitment. It is always nice to get to know someone by talking to them rather than committing without being able to ask them questions you want to know. 3. Set rules. Make that you are able to be in the room whenever you need to be. You do not want a roommate who will ask you to leave whenever they have a friend over. My friend’s roommate always asks her to leave the room when she has a friend over and at first she was okay with it. However, recently my friend has had a lot more work to do and gets annoyed when her roommate asks her to leave. 4. Don’t rush into anything. Take your time to get to know who they really are and if you can spend 7+ hours every day, 7 days a week with them. 5. Some good questions to ask: Study habits? Visitors? Sleeping habits? Allergies? How often do they plan to go home? Sports? Jobs? What they are going to bring (fridge, TV, fan, etc).

Dear Traveler, An activity that I am actively involved in is playing soccer at WAC. Spring season is finally here and we are all really excited to start practicing as a team again! Although we practiced indoors for a while and have been keeping our fitness up in the weight room, we were happy to get back on the field!

Dear Traveler, How do you know what college is right for you? It took me until the last week of April to decide which school to attend. It can be really stressful when thinking about where you want to spend the next 4 years of your life. Of course you can always transfer but that is a lot of work and no one wants to do that. I started by making a pros and cons list. I was able to “get rid” of 1 or 2 colleges that way. Next you have to think about what is best for you. Do you really need to be close to your family or would you like to move across the country? Once you have it narrowed down to 2 or 3 colleges, the thing that really got me to make up my mind was pretending like I decided. For one day I acted like I chose WAC and the next day I acted like I chose my other top choice. I was really unhappy the second day so I chose WAC. Although this process is really stressful and you will always have people asking about the process and if you have decided yet, just breath and know that it will be over soon. Good luck! P.S: If you’re stuck, just choose WAC! You won’t regret it!

Dear Traveler, 1. Professors: The professors here are so helpful! I have yet to meet one that was not willing to do whatever it took to help you understand the material they teach. 2. Location: As I mentioned in my last post, Washington College is set in the perfect location! It is 1-2 hours away from 2 major cities but in a town that allows for relaxation. Also, not being in a big city makes it easier to concentrate on homework. 3. Academics: Here at WAC the academics are challenging but when you finish a course you feel like you know so much more. For a small liberal arts school, WAC has many courses in a variety of different departments. 4. Speakers: Washington College staff find so many interesting speakers and get them to come to the campus to give a speech (there are many that are comedians which is so funny!) 5. Opportunities: WAC offers a lot of great opportunities! From studying abroad to internships at the Library of Congress WAC wants its students to get out in the world and find what it is they love.

Dear Traveler, The town: I love this little town! Although there is not as many things to do as there would be in a city, my friends and I can still have fun here. Since campus is only a 10 minute walk to the water, we don’t even need a car to enjoy our time. The people: the people around Chestertown are super nice! Even when someone doesn’t know you they are always friendly and willing to help. If you really miss your dogs and see someone walking theirs, you can go right up to them and pet the dog and the owner would not care. Location: We are 2 hours away from 2 big cities! Baltimore and Washington D.C are so close but also far enough away that you don’t miss school work just to go to a city. Weather: It snowed 2 times. I love the snow but the warmth is nice! Although, there are days like today where it is fun just to stay inside with a warm drink. It usually snows more (so I am told). Last year people were able to have snowball fights and make snowmen. Food: Even if seafood isn’t your thing there are still good restaurants around town. The Fish Whistle is a good seafood place that everyone goes to but there are also other cafes and restaurants like Luisa’s, Evergrain, and Lemon Leaf that are good and fun to just sit in.