The Admissions Office makes an Official Bennington College Class of 2016 Facebook group in early April, right after all the decisions have been mailed out. Don’t worry! There will be ample time to FB stalk all of your future peers!!
Ellen ‘12
First off, there are wood fireplaces all over campus (including the common rooms of most of the houses, the dining hall, and Commons lounge) and a big campus bonfire once a term. As far as setting fires in the woods whenever the mood strikes…you may understand that almost every college will have some concerns about fire safety. According to the Student Handbook:
“Bonfires are prohibited without the approval of the Dean of Students and the Director of Campus Safety. Students who wish to have a bonfire in conjunction with an event must register the bonfire through the Office of Student Life at least 10 days in advance. Approval for a bonfire is subject to the safety and environmental conditions as determined by the North Bennington Fire Department and the Director of Campus Safety.”
- Ellie
Right now, not that I know of. But improv happens sporadically here, usually as a group of friends getting together and making something happen. Which means if you come here, that’s easy to do — just gather a group, practice, sign out a space, put up posters, and people will show up.
Besides that, there was an Improv & Theater Games class last term. The final class showing was hilarious. There’s also ample opportunity for other kinds of comedy. Last term there was also a stand-up competition, and every two years there’s an amazing class called Sitcom where groups write — you guessed it — sitcoms that perform live every week for the second half of term.
By the way, I’m assuming you meant improv comedy. If you meant dance or music, the answer is also a huge YES. There are always oodles of classes and extracurricular opportunities for improv in the performing arts.
- Ezra ‘13
Imagine - it’s dark, and you can barely see. Human screams echo somewhere off in the distance. Nearby, you hear the crack of a whip, and flinch. As you sit in the mud and ponder your next move, a guttural yawp sounds out over the distance: “FRESH MEAT!!!”
No, but for real. Orientation is a pretty laid-back affair. You arrive, you move in, meet your roommate(s) and usually your House Chairs (who you can read more about here), and spend some time saying bye to your parents, if they’re there with you. After that, you’ll probably meet the other freshmen in your house, get cozy with the House Chairs, and maybe branch out into meeting some of the other freshmen in the houses on your street.
After dinner on the first day, you’ll be introduced to your Peer Mentor, who is another student at Bennington that is at orientation for the purpose of welcoming freshmen, helping them get to know the place, and just being sort of an older sibling to the freshmen in their Mentor Group. Mentor Group is also a good way to get to know some other freshmen outside your house.
The exact schedule changes from year to year, but typically, your time is divided pretty evenly between meeting other freshmen, doing get-to-know-you type activities, learning things about how the school works, registering for a few classes, and also just hanging out and acclimating. Orientation usually lasts a few days where it’s just the freshmen and student leaders on campus, and what I remember from that experience is developing a sense of ownership around the campus - because I had time to get used to my surroundings, it made it that much easier to integrate into the campus community when everyone else arrived on campus.
The exact format of orientation changes a little bit every year, but the main function of new student orientation is to help you feel comfortable, introduce you to some of the people you’ll be spending the next four years with, and to give you some pointers on your new life as a college student. I remember it being a really valuable experience, and to me, it was a strong basis for building the kind of robust community that makes Bennington such a special place to live. And there really isn’t all that much guttural yelling and whip-cracking, anyway. Not, like, too much.
-Evan ‘13
Some of us do! In the interest of maintaining a respectable image as an employed student of the school (at least, in my personal case), I don’t think it’d be a great idea to start handing out employee twitters, but there are quite a few admin- and staff-run twitters that are social media gold. Here are just a few:
In any case, that’s just a small sample of College-related twitters, but if you start following them, you’ll find that they often link back to other student- or school-run profiles. It’s a little slice of the Bennington community online.
-Evan ‘13 (with some help from Ellie [thx gurl])
FWT GOT ME FAMOUS
Before I did my final 3 weeks of Field Work Term in Spain, I worked for an online literary journal called nthWORD. Throughout January I read submissions, edited writing samples, and did some writing of my own. Ch-ch-check it out!
http://shorts.nthword.com/2012/01/lamberto-lamberto-lamberto-review.html
http://shorts.nthword.com/2012/01/sopa-unnecessary-limitation.html
http://shorts.nthword.com/2012/01/f-scott-fitzgerald-on-booze-review.html
http://shorts.nthword.com/2012/01/made-in-america-artistic-movement.html
This was a great opportunity to gain both writing and practical experience while sharing the fruits of my labor with the world wide web.
X, Holly
Well, it’s college, and it lasts for four years, so at some point people are going to pair up. What that pairing up looks like really depends. On the whole there’s a healthy mix of people in serious relationships, people who are dating casually, people who don’t want to label it, and people who aren’t really worried about it. From my own personal experience, I’ve temporarily spent time being in almost all those categories, and I’ve been pretty ok with each while they were happening.
Being in a relationship here is different for everyone depending on their needs and the point they’re at in their life and education. Many people in serious relationships have no problem dealing with temporary long distance situations over field work term, or with doing their work here in general. Other people would definitely feel distracted by a serious relationship and prefer something more casual or non-existent so they can focus on working. Overall, it’s a mish mash of both with lots of grey areas in between.
- Meg ‘12
Hey! I’m so flattered to get a personal question. That’s awesome that you are vegan and also like to cook + bake. Unfortunately there isn’t a local Whole Foods, but there is a natural foods market, Spice n’ Nice in town. There is also a green market (to which I have not yet ventured) in town once or twice a week.
I am revising my plan of study right now to focus on food’s representation in art throughout history and now. In this, I will focus mainly in photography-to capture food photos- and Italian to study a society where food is of major importance.
About the meal plan- almost all students are on it, and it is not an easy task to get off it. I am on the meal plan, which is beneficial for getting lunch in between classes or if I have too much work to have time to cook. The vegan options are good. I usually cook for myself and friends for dinner and often leave leftovers of what I make in the house.
We have house coffee hour on Sundays, and each person in the house buys or prepares food for one in each term. My coffee hour is coming up, so I am searching for some tasty desserts (possibly chocolate peanut butter cups or these muffins.
Please email me if you want to chat (or have any dessert ideas). My email is kated@bennington.edu
I’d say getting to Albany is relatively easy, there are good people on this campus who will drive you there for gas money or you can bribe them with McDonald’s and/or Crossett library paraphernalia.
Finding a Field Work Term (FWT) can be stressful, but Bennington gives you an incredible amount of support through the FWT office and through professor and student suggestions. The FWT office has an online database of job listings that organizations or people post to from outside of the college. This database also has a document library with information on how to write a resume, cover letter, and most information you may need to know to apply for a job.
There is also a local field experience if you want to work in Bennington. This is an internship opportunity to work with partner organizations or groups that have a connection to Bennington College.
I found both of my FWTs by reaching out to the individuals with whom I wanted to work, and I got the job both times. First working with a dance company as a marketing intern and the most recent working with a chef. I have never heard of students failing to find FWT positions. If you, for some reason, cannot get a job, you can do a FWT over the summer, but I think it’s usually more enjoyable to intern when all Bennington students are interning. Then you can share your experiences upon returning, and you have the chance to leave VT for the coldest months.
-Kate D.
The program has been cut but students currently enrolled will be able to graduate with their MA in Teaching. The decision means that no new candidates will be accepted for the program. You can still prepare to go to grad school through our undergrad programs and Field Work Terms but you won’t graduate with an MAT as a licensed educator. My friend Ben who I’m sure will be a forerunner in the movement for more diverse forms of education in the next 10 years will advocate that a LibArts education is a great primer for graduate studies in Education and Teaching. The classes listed under Center for Creative Teaching will continue to be offered but as the needs of the school changes, the curriculum will probably become more diverse to accommodate and encourage students from other disciplines to see education as a means of enhancing their plans.
-Janiele ‘12
It’s actually been a very diverse experience for me. Even though we have a small international population, the size of the school makes it possible to have real meaningful conversations with people about their lives and experiences.
The same is true for all individuals regardless of background. There are some pretty amazing people here who may be represented as caucasian in terms of demographic but who have been shaped by experiences in other countries and have their own menagerie of crazy interesting stories.
This term I’m doing a discussion group on race with a friend who is now a junior. The demographic is mixed: half of the group is white, a sixth is black and a third is mixed, but everyone contributes very meaningful things to the conversations we have. That’s been my general experience at Bennington as a black international student. People actually have a lot to offer from their life experiences and are willing to do that regardless of their demographic representation.
That being said, I’m aware that I probably have more contact with the international community than the average Bennington student but it’s really up to you what kinds of conversations you have and the people you choose to learn from.
-Janiele ‘12
p.s. Intercultural Festival = colourful, loud, dance, music, fun, cultural representation out the wazoo
My friend and coworker Kevin and I just checked out Young the Giant (neither of us had heard of them before) and had a mini jam session to them in the Admission’s Office.
As far as road trips go (or RTs as Kevin insists I call them), my two friends Maxine and India (fellow blog contributor) and I spent last long weekend doing what we called a 21+ tour of Vermont (21+ only because we toured two Vermont based breweries). In addition to getting our fill of tasty Vermont brews, we also visited Burlington, Shelburne, Middlebury and Fair Haven. It is very common for students to go on road trips over long weekends (we get one in the Fall and Spring). Canada, New York, Boston and D.C. are all popular destinations. When given a chance, students love exploring the East Coast.
Ellen ‘12
In brief, a lot.
Back to answering….
Ellen ‘12
This seems to be a common question; maybe Rules of Attraction is regaining it’s original popularity.* Here’s the thing, like other college campuses, some students here do partake in those activities. I, myself, enjoy a cold brewskie every now and then (I feel obligated to mention I am 22). However, I would not say it is the primary activity of students on campus. Most students partake in the various activites happening on campus every night (check out this term’s calendar ) which are drug and alcohol free. When alcohol is encountered at parties or elsewhere, it is not something that anyone will EVER be pressured to do. Students here are completly supportive of those who choose to stay sober, even in a party setting. In short, if you want to partake in it, there are ways to go about doing so but it is not the the focus of Bennignton’s social scene.
In response to your comment about Bennington being crazy and wild; I would say that Bennington students show their wild side sometimes (some more then others). The party scene here varies from big dance parties in houses’ common rooms which can get a little wild to people sitting in a circle talking about what they read while eating cheese and maybe sipping some cheap wine or hot tea. Call me crazy if you want, but the latter is usually my typical Friday night.
Ellen ‘12
* For those of you who don’t know, Rules of Attraction was written by Bennington alum Bret Easton Ellis.
There are a lot of options when it comes to campus jobs and they are all open for all students to apply to. There is definitely something for everyone. You can work in admissions (like me! right now! as I type this!) giving tours and answering questions, or run the front desk in Student Life or the Rec Barn. You can also work the front desk in the library, or be more behind the scenes library wise: shelving, organizing, ordering new books, hanging out with the awesome librarians…
There are positions working in Usdan Gallery, our gallery space on campus, helping to install shows or monitor the gallery. Likewise, our Visual Arts and Performing Arts building (VAPA) has positions working as a monitor for the photography, wood shop, metal shop, and printmaking studios, where you help out students who might have less experience than you in those areas.
You can work in the dining hall making pancakes, stocking food, generally making sure we are healthy kids. Similarly, you can work in the student center making food but also in the lighting and sound booth that we use when bands come to play. You can help out with the student garden. Be a peer mentor to incoming freshmen. Be a House Chair for one of the houses. The possibilities are vast! And if you have a specific interest, there is probably a job that you can be matched up with.
-India K, ‘12
I am perhaps the worst person to answer this question because I hadn’t even set foot in the Meyer Rec Barn until a couple terms ago when a friend who was working there wanted me to bring them food. But let it be known I am an anomaly on the Bennington campus! Many Bennington students enjoy staying fit and doing so through a wide variety of activities.
A few of the ways students get active: working out at the Meyer Rec Barn, using the climbing wall (also in the Rec Barn), taking a yoga, pilates, or Zumba class in the evenings after the day is over, going on one of the many outdoor trips offered by the college (white water rafting, hiking, snowshoeing, horseback riding, ice skating…), or participating in one of our intramural sports (the website lists soccer, fencing, and basketball, but let me add volleyball, tennis, running club, dodgeball, and circus club!).
This is all without going into the lavish descriptions I am holding back from writing of the gorgeous area Bennington is in; we are really lucky to be in great natural wonderland and being outdoors and getting a work out in this serene nature is fun, easy, and a great experience.
I should probably be taking my own advice. I took yoga two terms in a row once! Really.
-India K, ‘12
