Tuesday Thoughts

by Betsy Chapman

In this Issue:

  • Reminder: families have to apply for financial aid EVERY year, not just the first year
  • Dr. Wente’s annual Presidential Address (Nov. 14)
  • Halloween Concert on 10/31
  • Why students should go to campus events

The beauty of fall is all around us. Leaves are every shade of red, orange, and yellow right now. It’s that time where all the colors are still in full bloom before everything dulling to brown. You can get a sense of our view from this screen grab from the Quad Cam.

View from the Quad Cam 10/29/24

You can also see this Fall in the Forest video on Wake Forest’s official Instagram account – as well as other terrific content. In fact, if you aren’t following all our main social media channels, you may want to add some of these sites to your daily scrolling.

Reminder: families have to apply for financial aid EVERY year, not just the first year

There are a few processes that families and their students must do EVERY year, not just the first year. One is enrolling or waiving student health insurance, another is applying for financial aid.

So please be aware that families must apply for financial aid EVERY year (not just the first year). Here is some information that my friends in the Financial Aid office shared regarding this process:

“Submitting financial aid application materials and supporting documents by the priority filing dates allows time for receipt, processing, and review by the financial aid committee for a timely response to your application. Applications are reviewed in the order received.

The priority filing dates to submit the upcoming academic year’s CSS Profile®, FAFSA®, and federal income tax documents are:

  • Early Decision I, Early Action (for incoming students applying to the Class of 2029): CSS Profile® by November 15, FAFSA® as soon as possible after December 1
  • Early Decision II, Regular Decision (for incoming students applying to the Class of 2029): January 1
  • Continuing students, i.e., Class of 2025 (if not graduating in May), Classes of 2026-2028: March 1″

So if this applies to your family, make a mental note or add it into your annual calendar/to do list to make sure you meet the deadline(s) that apply to you.

Dr. Wente’s annual Presidential Address (Nov. 14)

Yesterday, the campus community received an invitation to Dr. Wente’s annual Presidential Address, which will take place on Nov. 14th at 4 p.m. The event will be livestreamed, so parents and families will be able to watch it online (and me too – I will be returning from Raleigh where I will be celebrating my ’27’s birthday and will listen to it in the car).

Do encourage your students to attend. (See a little more about this in the last item for today.)

Halloween Concert on 10/31

As the mom of a band student, I can’t help but share that there will be a Halloween Concert 🙂 This would be such a fun way for students to start their evening:

“The WFU Symphony Orchestra presents its annual Halloween concert with tricks, treats and some fun surprises — a Wake Forest tradition! Thursday, Oct. 31, 5 p.m., Brendle Recital Hall.”

Here are a couple of pictures from concerts past just to give a sense of the joy and whimsy of the concert.

The Wake Forest orchestra presents the annual Hallowe'en Concert under the baton of professor David Hagy at midnight

Why students should go to campus events

Today I mentioned two events – a presidential address and a concert – but there are scads of events taking place All. The. Time. And I would argue that students ought to take every advantage to participate in these sorts of traditions, rituals, performances, etc. Why?

Because your students live and work on our campus. They are part of this community, and campus culture is not a spectator sport – it’s a contact sport. You have to show up and participate.

When students have the chance to hear the president (or provost, dean, etc.) speak, they should go. They might get some insight as to their priorities, hear what is on their minds, what they are proud of, where they are spending their energy, maybe even what keeps them up at night. These topics, and these administrators, help shape student experiences.

In addition, there are always staff, faculty, and administrators who go to these events, and these are excellent people to know! When students to go to campus events, they have the ability to introduce themselves to other people on campus who may later become a friend, an important member of their network, someone who can help mentor them, etc.

It’s also meaningful when our students show up to support each other at arts events, sporting events, etc. We have a hugely talented student body. Your student might discover that the person in their psych class is also a great violinist featured at a concert, or the person at the table next to them in the Pit just happens to be the one designing the yearbook, or a person in their study group just happened to score the winning points at a recent athletic event.

Students’ schedules are busy, and I know they can’t go to All The Things. But they can be intentional about going to Some of the Things, as many as they can. Hear what is being discussed by administrators. Be inspired. Network. Engage.

These activities may bear important fruit down the road.

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