Info for the Class of 2031

I exiled myself from my residence hall during the day so that the students swirling frantically all around the library could hold me accountable to be productive. Like a hero on a journey (finals week), I just had to complete a few quests (finals) and then I could go home (Babcock Residence Hall). And like any hero in a story, I had to encounter a few key allies during my journey to help me get back home.

The first of these allies were the librarians. During New Deac (Orientation) Week, we learned that the librarians each have various research specializations and can be called upon for help with finding valuable sources. In high school, I always tried to navigate research alone, but when I came to college, I really wanted to improve my research capabilities. After a team of librarians took me through a couple of databases and helped me track down some excellent articles for my paper on Western European politics, I was ready for my next quest.

Later in the week, I ventured out of the comfort of my blanket and the 24-hour room to meet with an English professor I had the previous fall, with the goal of having him read a final essay I was working on and validate all of the hours I had spent reading American Suburban Gothic novels for my First-Year Seminar. Instead, he effectively tore it apart. He gently but rigorously pointed out all of the actionable ways I could improve my argument, and I trusted his advice because I knew he trusted my writing to be better. I went back to my recliner in the 24-hour room and rewrote large chunks of the paper before submitting it. 

It was almost time for dinner on the night before my last exam – German Short Fiction – and I was burnt out. I felt fine about the actual content of the exam, but I was exhausted from the week and just needed to fast-forward to the end of finals. As I left the 24-hour room to trudge to the dining hall, I got a text from a friend in that German class. She was struggling to keep some of the characters’ names straight and wanted to talk through them over dinner with some of our other classmates. Our little troop ended up talking at the dining hall – about German book characters and other things – until it closed that night. 

Each finals week still feels like a hero’s journey, to be honest, but it’s the kind of journey where everything falls perfectly into place to help the hero get home safely. If there were 300 students in that first-year English class as opposed to 14, I don’t think my professor would have been able to provide such amazing personalized feedback on my essay. If the librarians at Wake didn’t enjoy their work and helping students, my research on that politics paper would not have gone so well. If Wake’s community was more competitive instead of collaborative, I’m not sure my classmates and I would have been about to encourage one another like we did on that night before our exam. Thinking about finals as quests or tribulations started almost as a means of self-pity, but with all of the empowerment I find at Wake Forest, it’s not hard to feel like a hero by the end of the journey. 

Walking across Manchester Plaza on any given day, it’s impossible not to appreciate the incredible sense of connection taking place: picnic tables full of peer tutors, a professor holding class by the fire pits, club leaders introducing their interest to prospective students. Conversation is everywhere. These dialogues of knowledge and encouragement are where our experience becomes bigger than ourselves. 

As Wake Forest students, we serve others wherever and however we can. There is no measurement to our motto, only a commitment to an intentional good. Whether leading a shift at the Campus Kitchen or meeting up for lunch with a friend, any interaction has the opportunity to be impactful to someone else. Support is support is support. 

Even in the classroom, curricular knowledge is applicable beyond final exams. Students explore new disciplines, in such strengthening their skills in collaboration and critical thinking. Statistics become more than numbers, historical events more than a map of the past. In all academic areas across campus, instructional material directly correlates with real-world problems and discussions beyond Wake. Students and professors alike work in tandem to connect their skillsets to the good of others. 

Pro Humanitate is the undercurrent of our undergraduate experience, leaving students with more than a degree at commencement. Demon Deacons learn to understand why we serve humanity. 

Pro Humanitate is why academic courses educate students on concepts of leadership and character, bringing world leaders to our community. 

Pro Humanitate is why university traditions transform campus into a dance party, raising hundreds of thousands of donations for cancer research. 

Pro Humanitate is why extracurricular involvements connect local school children with Wake students for tutoring and mentorship. 

Pro Humanitate is why.

I can’t forget about spruce needles, how they’d jab into my right index finger. Spruce trees filled the edges of my backyard, resting on a sea of white rocks that split my backyard in half—there was the driveway on one half, and on the other—a mat of rocks on dirt, the color of sand. 

Spaces of green have always commanded my attention, but not like before. Since I stepped foot on this southern campus, it feels like mustard greens, elephant ears, bumble bees, fungi and perennials are only a few inches away from tapping my shoulder wherever I walk. 

Here, gardens are full. I have rosemary sprigs to pinch and smell, purple basil to snip and eat, zinnias, African marigolds, sweet roses and fleabanes to dry on my wall, bulbs of strawflower and amaranth to keep in bowls, a bush of hydrangeas to hold in tomato cans, anemones and sea lavender to squeeze in old wine bottles freckled with dust.

I have plants living amongst me. I can wait for carnations to unfold and break from its shell as it catches light that slips through my window shades. Even the okra I used to eat in Nigerian soups followed me from home, filling my hands, maroon and ripe. 

I was afraid that the blocks of concrete I attached to my name kept me distant from this campus, that my urbanness was only reserved for the brick and steel towers that guarded me from smelling cherry blossoms and sunflowers, from touching the palette of dahlias. And if we can keep this between us, I hope Wake’s landscaping team can forgive me for snagging flowers from the quad. 

But I don’t keep all of these flowers to myself; I share them with my dear friends. In a way, I get to share a part of me with my friends and the Wake Forest community.  We can all take notice of something that builds a new home for us in our own way. Connection doesn’t have to start on this campus. 

To me, a part of being a student here is getting to share who you are, while carrying pieces of home and making other communities yours. As you’re searching for a new community, whether you’re already on campus or are hoping to be, don’t be afraid to pluck those flowers from the quad. 

One afternoon Matt Clifford, Assistant Vice President of Campus Life and Dean of Residence Life and Housing, saw me waiting for a clear coast to pluck roses outside of the gym, and told me to just “take ‘em… they’re meant to be enjoyed.” To extend his generous encouragement—just take ‘em, because they’re meant to be enjoyed by you and by the next person walking across from you.

For seniors interested in Wake Forest, I would start by advising you to make the most of your final year by getting involved in any extracurricular activities or completing any certifications offered at your high school. This allows for admissions representatives to get a fuller understanding of you, your interests, and how you can be an asset to their college campus. Advanced Placement (AP) classes are also great ways of getting credits before college and give you the opportunity to get ahead in divisional requirements, and they also show your commitment to academic rigor. 

If you have submitted an application to Wake Forest, I would definitely suggest choosing to participate in an interview – whether video or virtual – as the next part of your admissions process. Having a conversation with a member of the Wake Forest admissions team gives the opportunity to share more about yourself, your academic interests, and what makes you engaged by the university. Interviews help to bring your application to life as you are able to make an impression beyond your essays and Common or Coalition Application. 

And speaking of that application, remember that Wake Forest is a university, so try to frame your responses, whether in the main or supplemental essays, in terms of your genuine intellectual curiosity. Admissions representatives want to know you, but remember the life of the intellect is always at the top of their minds. (This advice holds true for your video or virtual interviews too.) 

Finally, I would advise you to demonstrate as much interest as possible! Getting in touch with and creating a relationship with your local Wake Forest admissions representative is a terrific way of doing so and something I found really helpful during my admissions process. I was able to continually demonstrate my enthusiasm for being a part of the WFU Class of 2027 throughout the year and communicate any further accomplishments I had achieved or leadership positions I had filled after submitting my application.

I’m so glad you are considering applying – or maybe have already applied to Wake Forest! I can tell you from experience that Wake Forest will help you to find your passions and prepare you to lead a life of meaning and purpose. 

Go Deacs!