Geese float on Peacock Pond.
It has been brought to our attention by Mairi Travis ’26 that our current list of 50 things to do before you graduate has become outdated since it was initially published in the summer of 2015 on the Wheaton website. The original criteria was composed of ideas offered by students, staff, faculty members and alumni. The list was presented to incoming students at their summer orientation as a gift and a challenge. Now, we offer our revised version, adapted to fit today’s traditions and campus chaos. Many of the original items remain, but we hope you’ll have fun checking off both old and new goals we deem to be fulfilling ways to commemorate one’s time as a student at Wheaton.
❑ Jump in Peacock Pond.
❑ Do an internship or use a Wheaton provided stipend.
❑ Save your candle from the candle-lighting ceremony and float it in Peacock Pond the night before Commencement.
❑ Attend an a cappella jam.
❑ Get on a first-name basis with your favorite professor.
❑ Scream at the top of your lungs in a Watson practice room.
❑ Go to a performance by one of the dance groups on campus.
❑ Enter the Chapel through the front doors after your senior Commencement.
❑ Go sledding in the Dimple (trays and garbage bags available from dining services).
❑ Have wings at Wendell’s.
Max Aaronson ’26 poses for a selfie with the Wheaton Geese.
❑ Attend a senior pub night.
❑ Attend the Head of the Peacock Regatta (bonus point if you compete!).
❑ Take the train to Boston or Providence.
❑ Have lunch in the Dimple.
❑ Attend your class dinner.
❑ Play pool in the Meadows game room.
❑ Attend a Slype Night.
❑ Participate in Holi.
❑ Wish a tour guide a happy birthday when you come across them giving a tour.
❑ Cheer on one of Wheaton’s athletic teams at a home event.
❑ Attend Moonlight Brunch (bonus point if you get a selfie with the college president).
❑ Go to Late Night at Emerson.
❑ Dress up the statue of Hebe.
❑ Visit the Beard and Weil Galleries in Watson Fine Arts.
❑ Visit the observatory or greenhouse during an event.
❑ Race in the Hoop Roll during Senior Week.
❑ Walk through the Wheaton woods (bonus point if you find red rock).
❑ Stargaze on a soccer field.
❑ Snap a selfie with Cowduck and/or the Wheaton geese.
❑ Introduce yourself to the president (or have dinner at the Presidents’ House).
Max Aaronson ’26 gets ready to play pool.
❑ Vibe out in the Lyons Den during an event.
❑ Pull an all-nighter in the library during Night Owl Hours.
❑ Volunteer through a program offered by the Office of
Service, CIVIC, or Spirituality and Social Responsibility.
❑ Support an on-campus band by going to one of their performances and/or buying their merch.
❑ Sign up for a club at the Student Club & Organization Fair.
❑ Attend the Holiday Vespers concert (a Wheaton tradition for more than 80 years).
❑ Jam out at Wheaton Woodstock.
❑ Listen to WCCS, Wheaton’s radio station.
❑ Have a conversation with a member of the dining hall staff.
❑ Play a retro video game at the Gaming Station in the Discovery Center.
❑ Do homework in the “Harry Potter Room.”
Max Aaronson ’26 poses with Hebe in the winter weather.
❑ Eat Wheaton M&Ms.
❑ Take a picture with Roary.
❑ Make a late night (past 10:30 p.m.) run to CVS or Cumberland Farms.
❑ Rock some Wheaton swag.
❑ Attend the annual ghost-telling ceremony during orientation.
❑ Roll across the hallways of the Mars Center for Science and Technology in swivel chairs (preferably at night).
❑ Watch a theater production.
❑ Have fun at The BIG Event.
❑ Sit on the library steps as a senior (and tell underclassmen they can’t sit there).