If you know what an Eph is, this post is for you. If you don’t know, and care to find out, Eph is short for Ephraim, the first name of Ephraim Williams, the ill-fated benefactor of my alma mater Williams College. Eph Williams wrote up his will on the way to do battle a long time ago, bequeathing his fortunes for the founding of a small college in northwestern Massachusetts (provided the college and the town it was in be named after him). Eph went to battle and promptly died. But many of us are grateful for the bequest, on account of the fine time we had living for four years in the town that bears his name.
Onward to the business at hand: Robbi and I have been commissioned by the visionary Ashley Weeks Cart (be sure to check out her blog) at the Williams Office of Alumni Relations to create a special something to welcome first-year students to the Purple Valley. Basically, we will be making an illustrated map/checklist of all the things that a Williams student must do before graduation, a kind of guide to getting the most out of one’s years in Williamsmtown.
Eating every flavor of Hot Tomatoes Pizza, for example. Or taking a sunrise hike up Pine Cobble. Or stealing books from the Amherst College library. You name it. The resulting piece will be a detailed, sprawling poster that features all of these items roughly related to one another geographically, with short descriptions, and a way to check off an item when it’s done.
To get the best possible list of ideas, we are asking all you Ephs to share your favorite experiences—at Williams, in Williamstown, or anywhere in the surrounding areas. What is it that you would have the next generation of dewy-eyed freshman do as they get to know that place you love so well?
Please share your thoughts as comments for all to enjoy. If you are not an Eph and would like to make stuff up, that is also perfectly acceptable. We place no restrictions here at Idiots’Blog. At least not this early in the morning.
Climb canopy walk in Hopkins Forest.
Polar Bear Swim.
Dinner with the president.
Play kazoo (or something else) with the Mucho Macho Moocow Precision Regimental Marching Band at a football game.
Be part of a floor-shaking crowd at a basketball game.
Climb up to Stony Ledge on Mountain Day.
Hike to the summit of Mt. Greylock.
Steal other entries’ banners.
Practice “uncomfortable learning”.
Teach or take a Free University class.
Attend a match/game/meet of a sport that’s new to you.
-stop in the middle of campus during a nighttime snowstorm and just listen to the silence
-politically, it’d be nice to have something about visiting the MCC/going to a cultural event or two–not sure what programming they do regularly now, tho
-lickety split
-join broomball IM team
-sledding on cafeteria trays behind the fields (best/most dangerous at night)
-that breakfast place on the road toward vermont (I forget it’s name)
honestly, i never did most of those quintessential williams things like the sunrise hikes or even mountain day (I know, I know). there should be something about that–it’s ok to not do the things we say, make your own williams.
-hike to Stony Ledge for Mountain Day
-(related) play Mountain Day roulette
-take a tutorial
-attend events like the Pi/e debate and the Latke/Hamentaschen debate (do they still do those?!)
-eat Pad Thai at Thai Garden
-spend an afternoon “working” with friends at Tunnel City
-study in the monkey carrels (I never did, and I wish I had!)
Go sledding/traying at the 9th hole of the golf course.
Play with the DNA model inside Bronfman.
Study on the steps of Chapin on a sunny day (Chapin Beach).
Work for the Summer Theatre Festival to see free shows.
If you’re going to do a stint in the marching band… experience Band Maneuvers! (If they still do that.)
Eat at the Blue Benn–is that the diner Rory was thinking about? I’d recommend the cinnamon roll.
Get a strange old sweater at the Women’s Exchange on Cole Ave.
See an exhibit you don’t really understand at Mass MoCA
Dive into the Tubs in Pownal, VT
Get maple syrup and apple cider from the Apple Barrel
I shared mine here:
http://blogalacart.com/2012/07/wanted-eph-advice/#comments
But also had a question – will this poster be available for non-first years to purchase? Sounds awesome!
Back when there was an Ephblog, there was a pretty good post on this topic. Here was the list we came up with:
http://www.eph-log.com/eph-archives/2010/09/29/things-to-do-in-billsville-when-youre-dead-post-in-progress
My personal favorites from the list: end-of-semester trivia, road trip to Amherst for a hoops double-header (or at a minimum, attend a home Amherst basketball game and merciless taunt the Lord Jeffs), teach (or failing that, take) a free univeristy class, have drinks/dinner with a professor, read the tombstone inscriptions at the Mission Park cemetary.
Also: tour all of the public art / sculpture on campus, visit MassMoca, visit the natural bridge park in North Adams, climb to the top of Pine Cobble, picnic on Stone Hill, and I second Mountain Day roulette.
1. Sunrise hike (never did it sadly)
2. Eat purple cow ice cream from Lickety Split
3. Explore Schow roof
4. Rent out the cabin in Hopkins Forest for a night with friends
5. Play on the playground at the Elementary School
6. Go on a Stone Hill camp out
7. Eat at Kripsy Cone in Pittsfield near Pontoosuc Lake- they have hundreds of soft serve flavors but are only open in the early fall/late spring
8. Start (and finish) a beer card at the Forge
9. Swim in the Green River
10. Explore Mount Hope Farm
11. Go to every event on Mountain Day and play Roulette
12. Go cliff jumping at the Quarry in Dover, VT (never did this sadly)
13. Attempt to order every sandwich at Pappa Charlies
14. Take a tutorial
15. Go to away games at Amherst and dress/be as obnoxious as can be
16. Go ice skating on the hockey rink
17. Join a broomball team
18. Go skiing at Jiminy Peak as often as possible during Winter Study
19. Study abroad
20. Go to Hilton Head as a senior
I’m a big fan of the Tubs.
Bonfires on Stone Hill.
Take a class in a subject that you are bad at.
– Visit the planetarium and the Hopkins Observatory — the oldest still-working observatory in the US
– Eat at Elizabeth’s in Pittsfield
– Visit the Snow Hole near the top of Petersburg Pass
– Find the tri-state marker hidden in Hopkins Forest
– Spend a summer in Williamstown
Have a campfire on top of Stone Hill
Run Blair loop
Picnic on top of Mount Greylock
-Go to the Dorset Quarries
-Find the treehouse behind the Cole Field softball pitch
-Get onto Schow roof
-Get onto Chapin roof
-Go to a Winter Carnival Ski Race
-Find a way to get Williams to pay for a trip somewhere. (I’ve been to Corvallis, OR; North Conway, NH; Quebec, QC; Boulder, CO; and the Island of Hawaii through all sorts of classes, research trips with profs, and Ski Team camps.)
-Take a date to the Planetarium in Odd Quad. This works especially well if you make friends with an Astro TA.
-Camp out on Stone Hill
-Play ‘ruit with a security guard. It can be done.
-Be a TA…help others out with a subject you love
-Find the legendary CDE Goat Room and somehow get a look (don’t know if it’s been done…it requires at least one lock to be picked)
I’ll second or third several that I’ve already seen:
-Go shopping at the Women’s Exchange — heck, I bought most of my wardrobe there
-Invite a professor to dinner
-Mountain Day!
-Play end-of-semester trivia (but don’t get as stupid-drunk as I did)
-Join a broom ball team
-Visit MASSMoCA
-Teach or take a FreeU course
-Go to a Multi-Cultural Center event
And:
-Get to know some of the non-academic staff who keep the campus functioning – groundskeepers, dining hall workers, security officers, lab techs
-Hike the Taconic Crest Trail in summer and pick blueberries and huckleberries
-Go on a hike in Hopkins Memorial Forest led by someone who has studied its ecology, geology, or history — faculty or students (for example, Dr. Hank Art, who’s been studying the forest for decades)
-Same deal for the art museums — go to an academic lecture by someone who has studied the art at WCMA or the Clark or MASSMoCA
-Attend a CES Log Lunch
-Do at least one thing that gets you engaged with the Williamstown or N. Adams community – be a Big Sibling or do other volunteer work
I suck at nostalgia! That engine is very slow and rusty. Ummmm…. Here are a few items:
– dress like a Mucho Macho Moocow Marching Band member (even if you aren’t one)
– get a sandwich named after you at Papa Charlie’s (never did it, but maybe they’d consider it – for a day)
– make snow angels in the Freshman Quad
– go skating on Occum Pond (Oh, wait. That’s Dartmouth. Told you I suck at this.)
– climb Cobble Hill
– climb Mount Greylock
– visit a professor during their office hours (I didn’t do this nearly enough and regret it.)
– take a class with Professor Ed Berger (I did this and am grateful to this day. BTW, he now has his own math app!)
My brain is starting to hurt, so I’m going to stop now. ;)
As a mom of an Eph, I’d say take your kid and his pals to Jack’s and treat them to all they can eat.
And when you need a giggle, take a walk over to the College cemetery for a gander of the backside of Lane Faison’s gravestone.
Run up Pine Cobble and back.
Play intramural Broomball but wear elbowpads.
Rent cross-country skis from the outing club and take them for a spin, whether you know what you’re doing or not.
Attend a “Queer Bash” dressed to the nines, free of fear or prejudice, and have the time of your life.
Take a 2am study break to Cumberland Farms for Cheetos and Peach Snapple.
Take a math class. Any math class. Those people are CRAZY and you won’t regret it.
Take an art history class. It’s Williams. You gotta do it.
I know it has already been said, but… broomball. It’s a right of passage. And hike Pine Cobble. Duh.
Go to MassMOCA while it is close and you get a student discount.
Hike to the top of Mount Greylock.
Walk down to the rugby pitch and take a moment to just be quiet and appreciate the beauty.
Make at least a few good friends and hold onto them with dogged determination ever after.
..Also, I second the desire to buy this if it’s available! If not, I’ll have to send my high-school senior aged sister to Williams
-Go snowshoeing (if skiing is intimidatnig)
-Def take classes for the profs
-Camp overnight at stonehill with good friends (solo is scary, trust me.)
-Drive and explore other town
-Find a good swimming hole, the green river is *not* one.
-Eat a sandwich at the shop at 5 corners
-best hungover brunch is chef’s hat
-go to the clark while you can still walk there
-go apple picking at green river farms on a nice day–best scenic apple picking of all time
-definitely do not sneak out onto chapin hall roof the night before you graduate
-take an art history class!!! i was a nonbeliever, but i caved sophomore year and then switched majors because the professors were incredible and it was a totally new subject matter to me. then again, all williams profs are amazing. also take a math class – those are some fantastic people who make math pretty fun even if you are totally lost.
-join crew or watch a regatta on lake onota (i rowed, and i think half the people i met at williams had tried it at some point. also, few people come see us race, and we do pretty darn well!)
-keep up with your profs after graduation. almost all are really nice and helpful/encouraging/excited
-go to any quirky tradition that williams hosts. its so weird and unique and the real world never does things that fun, nerdy, and shameless
-get a bagel with chive cream cheese from goodrich. what i wouldnt give to have that for breakfast…
-make friends with the dining hall staff
-stock up on williams gear. ephs around the world will see it and say hello, and it’s an awesome feeling and instant bond.
-visit the clark
-go apple picking
1. Eat several grilled honeybuns from the Snack Bar.
2. Skip class to get cider doughnuts at the Apple Barn.
3. Go traying behind Driscoll dining hall.
4. Spend the night in the cabin at Hopkins Forest.
5. Get a Nordsman for breakfast at the Williams Inn.
6. Make friends with the folks who live in the room off of Spencer porch.
7. Check out the Perry Goat Room at night (creepy!!).
8. Hang out with President Garfield’s remains.
9. Go the Williamstown elementary school playground for a late night playdate.
10. Hike Pine Cobble.
11. PLAY RUGBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I forgot this one…
#11- Play RUGBY!
*Be a DJ on WCFM
*Learn to play golf on the 2nd best college golf course in the country
*Take a class in a 4th floor penthouse classroom in Hopkins
*Party in Willy F basement
*Get money from ACE to throw an “ice cream social” for no reason
*Float the green river
*Go to an away game of your choice at Amherst and make more noise than them.
-Drive up and down Route 7 when the leaves start to change
-Play in the first good snowfall of the year
-Sunbathe on Chapin Lawn as soon as the temperature gets back above 50
-Stay at least one summer on campus
-Go to all 3 art museums
-Go to all 4 Homecoming football games
-Go into every shop or restaurant on Spring Street and Water Street
-Go to half-price movies at Images
-Go see some of the amazing performances that come through the ’62 Center – being cultured will never be that cheap again
-Go find all the random pieces of sculpture on the grounds. Debate which animal/plant/tai chi pose the non-objective ones most resemble.
-Get lunch/dinner/coffee with your professors
-Invite the president to your Entry Snacks
-Do an independent study or design your own class
-Fight your way into the best Winter Study courses – I hear the visiting instructors are pretty cool ;)
An emphatic Yes! on
-Clark Art
-taking an arth course
-take a tutorial
-broomball
-mountain day
-queer bash
I’d like to add:
-Thompson Chapel to the list of roofs
-attend a log lunch
-star viewing from the old observatory
-isn’t there a library of old books on campus that people should know about? (clearly i missed this one)
-interact with folks from CDE
-see how many knock-you-nakeds you can eat in one sitting
-hide in the library and get locked in for the night
-attend a jazz band performance in Chapin
-sing The Mountains at every opportunity