First+Year+Seminar

Hello friends! This is only a temporary home for us (we'll be moving the class web page soon) but it's a place to get started. If you don't know about wikis, you'll learn fast. This is all about community creation of information.

Here's another copy of the opening letter I sent out my email.

=Please select "Edit this page" above and add in something about yourself. It would be great to link to a webpage if you have one. This particular wiki is kind of limited in options (that's why we're moving). If there's a link you want and you can't figure out how to make it, just email it to me and I'll add it in. And it would be great to get photos -- same deal. Looking forward to meeting you in person.=

I can only assume that this is the proper place to post my introduction. I looked around this site a bit and couldnt find anybody elses posting, so either this is the wrong place or I am the only one... Hi I am Able. My home is in Unaka which I am told is the Cherokee word for white. It is beautiful and secluded from the rest of world. I spend most of my time however, in Brasstown, another small community in the area that surrounds Murphy. Brasstown is also home to the John C. Campbell Folk School [|read about it, it's a great place], so despite it being sort of a po-dunk hick community, it attracts a huge population of artist who tend to be worldly and interesting. The Folk School has been a huge part of my life growing up. I was home schooled from the middle of third grade through the end of High School, so a structured learning environment will be a big change for me. I am really looking forward to Warren Wilson student life though, it will be whole new challenge as well as an opportunity for self improvement. I play guitar, alot of rock and blues type stuff, but my bread and butter is playing contra-dance music. The only problem is when I am playing I don't get to dance which is slightly tragic because I love to dance. I hope to see my class mates on the dance floor on Thursdays.

//Hi Able, this Laura -- don't worry, you're just the first brave soul to try the wiki. Others have emailed me -- I'll try to lure them onto the page. I am looking forward to hearing more about the Folk School -- which is well known here at WWC. And since I spend a lot of my time with public school teachers and students, I'll be especially interested in your experiences as you move out of homeschooling. An increasing number of Wilsonites have had a similar educational history. See you soon. Hope we'll get more of your future colleagues on the page, maybe over the weekend. LT//

hello, this is hank. i will be your peer group leader during orientation week. i live on saint simons island, georgia, about an hour north of jacksonville, florida. i just finished my first year at wilson. it really is the best school in the country. i've already been back several times this summer to visit friends. i love to ride and fix bikes, play guitar, and make stencils. i have a lot of stupid tattoos. i'm on the community bike shop as my crew at wilson (bring your bikes in to get fixed) and i live in schafer b (come hang out). even though i will see you all in a little over a week, i have several pieces of advice for life at wilson.

1. don't go crazy (party wise). the amount of freedom you're allowed all of the sudden is pretty intense and its easy to just go out and party every night, but you have to do your homework! my routine was to take my computer and books to the library after dinner and stay for 2 or 3 hours, except friday and saturday, then go out and party with my friends (most of whom did the same thing). you'll notice that after the first semester a lot of people will leave. for the most part, these are people who couldn't balance working and having fun (even though working is fun!). i'm sure you all will be just fine though. i hope that doesn't scare you into thinking wilson isn't really really fun. it might not be summer camp (it IS college you know) but not a day went by that i didn't have a blast with my friends.

2. don't worry if you don't get on the best crew first semester. wilson is a community where almost every aspect of the campus is student run. so, naturally, the "dirty" or "boring" work has to get done by students. there's dining, dorm cleaning, building services, and office jobs. you're freshmen so you will probably be put on one of those crews. if you are, don't worry about it! i washed dishes 5 days a week at 6:30 in the morning, but you know what? i ate breakfast! i never used to eat breakfast. and i did have a really good time too. the people i worked with were awesome, my bosses were fun (they took us bowling), i got all of my work out of the way before 9:30 in the morning, and i only did it for a semester. basically, somebody has to do it, and it's you! as long as you have a positive attitude about work you'll be ok.

3. if you do get on one of the "worse" crews, you don't have to stay on it for long. VOLUNTEER. i can't stress this enough. the only way you will get on a new crew is if you get your face out there and volunteer on other crews. crew bosses want students who are motivated and hard workers. the only way they will know this is if you go to them and volunteer on their crews. during first semester, when i was on dining, i was also going to the bikeshop and volunteering. joel, the crew boss, taught me a lot and saw that i was motivated and really wanted the job, so i got it! its easy!

4. go to school functions. students activites, led by dustin rhodes, put on tons of really fun events. theres open mics, drag shows, the erotic open mic on valentines day, cover song night, among dozens of other events. these unique events are one of the aspects of wilson that make it what it is.

5. stay on campus. who cares about asheville? you'll just spend money. not really, asheville is a lot of fun but so is wilson. stay on campus some nights. there is always something fun going on.

6. come hang out with me in my suite.

if you have ANY questions at all, feel free to email me at fhambright@warren-wilson.edu.

i hope this advice is useful. i look forward to meeting all of you soon! i'll probably be around sunderland and vining on move in day to help people move stuff. if you see a kid with blonde hair, a rat tail, and tattoos, introduce yourself!

p.s. laura, i'll be back on campus sunday afternoon. see you soon!

Hey Hank, I'll try to catch you Monday for an official tatoo count. Hope it's been a good summer. LT

Here's a page of all the class emails for you to play with .... are they not a found poem?

Hello. My name is Ryan Frank. Im really excited about this class and about warren in general. Ive been out of school for a year and have been working construction, so my drive to do well and to become something more has never been as high. About a week ago I had to get my wisdom teeth pulled and ive been laid up, going crazy in my house. Reading and trying to get ready to come up to school. (though i dont think i can be much more ready mentally) I live in Chalotte by the way, so Im right down the road. Im into rock climbing and to a lesser extent mountiain biking, so I am very familiar with Asheville and the surrounding areas. To move up there is like a dream come true for me. Ive been dying to get out of this city for years, and it seems like hard work is finally paying off. Cant wait to hear more about the class and classmates, have any good book recomendations?

//Hi Ryan//! This is Laura. I just read Jennifer Eagen's //The Keep// which is a wild novel that jumps around in time and space and story, from prison to a castle to a dotcom bazilliioner. I devoured it. ... And my kid just had to read //Ishmael// (Daniel Quinn, I think) for an AP enviro science class (he's going to be a junior at Asheville High in a few days. He says that's a great book for thinking about the environment, although he also said it was a bit preachy/didactic for calling itself a novel. I'm going to try to wrassle more of your class mates onto this page.

//This is Laura -- I just made your myspace address into a link. See the editing options at the top? Very useful. I guess I better read Ishmael and get in on the conversation. My husband Pete Turchi (who's a writer) was pretty impatient with the repeating stuff too. And yet it seems to be leading to good conversation. Another book that raised my blood pressure but was worth the aggravation of the truth was Amy Goodman's The Exception to the Rulers. I probably should have assigned it for this class...//

Hi, my name is Samantha. Atfirst I wasn't too sure where to write anything, and then sort of forgot about it. I don't have much interesting to say about myself. I live in Harrisburg PA, which surprisingly to everyone is the capitol. But really i'm from maryland, right outside of DC, and that's where I prefer to have my base. I'm in love with Asheville. I play capoeira angola which is a brazilian martial art and hopefully I'll have time to play while at wilson. Anyway, Only a few more days right? Samantha

Hello, all. My name is Susannah. I'm from Greenville, SC - which is about an hour and eleven minutes from Warren Wilson's first entrance (I've timed it out). I spent most of my summers while I was growing up at the Swannanoa Gathering...which is held at Warren Wilson's campus during the summer. I fell in love with the area, and the "skinny dipping pond", and the beautiful new pavilion and the swing by the dining hall, so it was natural that I'd look at Wilson for college once that time rolled around. I'm really excited to be starting a school that shares a lot of my views on environmentalism and political activism, and I can't wait for Freshman Seminar. I'm an avid contra dancer, which is a pasttime everyone will learn about if it isn't already familiar. I'm in Vining A -- which is the dorm i used to hang out in as a little kid during the Gathering, funny enough -- and I'm leaning towards courses that involve outstanding women throughout history, gender/sexuality studies, and creative writing. I'm currently reading "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri if anyone is looking for a really wonderful collection of short stories. Able (listed above) has been a good friend and dance partner of mine for a fairly long time now, and I'm looking forward to reconnecting with him and other dancers, as well as meeting a slew of new folks. My myspace page is kind of a lame reference to list, but it's the main mode of communication between people my age these days... so have a look. www.myspace.com/welaugh_indoors. Laura, I'm not really sure how to make that a link...or if i succeeded. We'll see. I can't wait to move in! See you all in about four days!

Hey everyone, my name is Rachel Schonberg. I'm actually moving in tomorrow (thursday) so right now i'm waiting for my laundry to finish so that I can finish packing. I'm from Chapel Hill, NC and love my town but am most definitely ready to get out of this area. I went to an awesome Quaker high school called carolina friends school. It offers a huge variety of classes which I loved. I took all different things ranging from HIV Ethics (a passion of mine. I've been to Malawi and South Arica twice.) to independent lawn mowing to really anything at all. Last weekend I went with my friends to raft the Nantahala and stopped by Wilson on my way. It got me pretty excited. I'm in Vining B but like I said I'm going early. If people want me to check out their dorms or anything for them just let me know. My AIM screen name is RachelTheEskimo. I forget my myspace thing but I have facebook so look me up. See you all soon.

Hello! My name is Erin. I'm from Fallston, Maryland. Warren Wilson has actually been my "dream college" ever since my cousin Sarah graduated years ago (I mean, what could be cooler than being a plumber AND studying in Sri Lanka?!) I love backpacking--last year was my "ultimate" hiking trip to Philmont, New Mexico with my Venture Crew. I also love photography and mountain biking, even though I'm pretty awful at it. Recently I've been trying to broaden my spiritual horizon and research other religions. I get pretty into them as I read about them, but I've yet to find something I'm completely comfortable with. Music is another passion of mine. I play the violin (mostly classical, but hopefully WW can help me learn some other types...) but it's been a goal of mine to learn steel drums. Anyway...that's about it. If you want to know more, my online journal is [|www.xanga.com/sundaydriiver] I look forward to leaving suburbia and coming to Warren Wilson! Can't wait to meet you all...

Hey ... I'm Grace. I come from a place almost like the twilight zone ... Virginia. Ok. so a bit dramatic ... but living in the bible belt drives you crazy. I'm so ready to be around people who don't spend their whole lives with their heads in the sand. So, without further ado, it is a pleasure to meet you all.

ps. I have a shitty tattoo too. *grins*

ello ello, this is emily from sanjuan Island washington state. quite the trip i must say. I'm a bit late on this wee message board, but is decided to hide in a deep crevass of my e-mail. a few things--i can't spell worth jack eather(just sound it out), body modifacation is more than an art form to me--looking forward to seeing everyone's decore, and i need to learn how to roller skate. it's saterday currently and i'll be arround tomorrow for room set up junkness. i am dearly tickled to meet all you fine people. happy in go go boots-Ms. emily/rainbowtrout7

everybody needs eCommerce Training **[|Visit this page]**