The Woods

By Lacey Henson
Staff Writer

The life of a Woodsie comes with many traditions; one is the long- standing and very popular Big Sis/Lil Sis week.
The Junior Class organizes Big Sis/Lil Sis week in which upper-classmen students adopt a first year student during the first semester, help them adjust to college and act as a mentor.
However, emails have been sent out with high importance notifying upperclassmen that several lil’s still need to be taken, even saying that there will be no Big Sis/Lil Sis week if not all lil’s are taken.
“Big Sis/Lil Sis week will go on,” Vice President for Student Life Vicki Kosowsky said.
Within three days after the email was sent, many lil’s were taken, but there are still several left.
Anyone who is considered a little sis does not need to worry if she was not chosen right away.
The main reason for the delay of lil’s being adopted is due to the amount of big’s compared to lil’s.
The freshman class is larger because it consists of all incoming students. International and transfer students also qualify as lil’s.
“It is an issue of numbers,” Kosowsky said.
Sophomores and seniors can also adopt lil’s, but juniors get the first pick.
Sophomore Shelby Richardson, decided to be active in Big Sis/Lil Sis week this year as a big sis.
“I liked the fact that someone picked me,” Richardson said. “It made me feel wanted and I want to make someone feel that way.”
Lil’s have a week of fun to look forward to.
“Big’s decorate the lil’s door, pass notes under their doors, and leave them gifts,” junior class Vice President, Jennie Faker said.
Some lil’s dress up in wacky costumes and perform skits at lunch in O’Shaughnessey, all under their big’s command.  Big’s know who their lil is, but lil’s are in the dark of who their mystery big sis is.
“It is daily communication with someone you don’t know,” Director of Conferences and Non-Credit Programs, Julia White said.
Although big’s can give gifts, Big Sis/Lil Sis week is not a competition of who can give the most elaborate or expensive gift.
“It is not about the money,” Kosowsky said.  “But, it has morphed into presents.”
Big Sis/Lil Sis week is an experience that will always be remembered by those who participate in it.
Alumna Rachel Romas, who received her Bachelor’s in 2008, and her Masters in 2010 from SMWC, remembers Big Sis/Lil Sis week as if it were yesterday.
She adopted two lil’s when she was a junior at The Woods.
“It was so much fun watching them try to figure out who I was,” Romas said.
Both lil’s sadly transferred but she still talks to one of them as often as she can.
“Facebook has allowed me to keep up with them even after their time at the Woods, which has been helpful,” Romas said.
Romas did adopt a third little sis who she says is one of her best friends from The Woods. They stay in contact on a regular basis.
“Whenever we all get back together for gatherings, it is like we’ve never left the Woods,” Romas said.
Big Sis/Lil Sis week allows for a bonding experience between upperclassmen and freshman and is a week dedicated to mentoring new students, being silly and making lasting relationships.
“You basically get a free friend,” Faker said.
Friendships and mentoring are the results of Big Sis/Lil Sis week.
“It has been commercialized with gifts,” Faker said.  “We need to fall back into the traditions of Big Sis/Lil Sis week.”
This rich tradition helps Woodsies bond on a different level; as sisters.
“Students need to be reminded of Big Sis/Lil Sis week because it is the heart of being a Woodsie,” White said.
Big Sis/Lil Sis week begins November 13th and runs through the 17th.

Popularity: 18% [?]

By Jade Scott
Editor-in-Chief

As a sophomore that just went through the process of Big Sis/Lil’ Sis a year ago and as a sophomore that does not have a Lil’ Sis, I was able to experience the past week with an unbiased opinion.
I can vividly remember that first night of my freshman year when 10 p.m. rolled around on that first night of Big Sis/Lil’ Sis week.  The voice came over the intercom informing the freshman that they had so much time before they had to be in their rooms for the night.  This year I was able to sit in my room with my door open hearing the current freshman whine because they were the ones being locked in their room for the night.
Each night after 10 p.m. I thouroughly enjoyed being able to walk up and down the halls on each floor to watch all of the excited upperclassmen rush to the door of their little.  Some passed notes under the doors to talk to their little, some decorated the door, and some covered the door entirely so there was no longer an exit.  But every single little woke up each morning to a surprise outside their door.
While the tradition of Big Sis/Lil’ Sis week continued on this year there were some changes that the upperclassmen had to adhere to when buying items for their littles.
For the first time there was a spending limit on each day of the week when it came to gifts.
“We put a spending limit on the gifts because we want to make sure that each little gets the same experience as everyone else,” said Libby Wright, junior class president.  “Times are hard and we realize that not every upperclassman can afford to spend as much on their little as before.”
Upperclassmen could only spend $15 each day for whatever presents were left outside the door of their little.
By putting a spending limit on the week there were no problems with some littles getting a lot more than others and their experience being ruined.
“The main point of the week is to create a relationship with your little, not about how much you can buy them,” Wright said.
The spirit of the week was not diminished by the limitations that was put on it.
Every day, those that attended lunch in O’Shaughnessy Dining Hall, were able to enjoy their lunch with a show.  Their was a dancing banana, rounding up of the horses, the Cha-Cha slide, singing, and a lot of other entertainment with our meals.  This year proved to be just as entertaining as my freshman year.

Popularity: 25% [?]

By Margy Frazier
Staff Writer

From the first time my family and I visited Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, we heard talk of the traditions. One tradition in particular that our tour-guide talked about several times throughout our tour was Big Sis/Lil’ Sis week.
She explained that for one week the upperclassmen would each adopt a freshman, international, or transfer student and spend a week leaving them gifts and decorating their doors. At the end of the week the bigs would reveal themselves to their littles.
The point of this tradition, our tour guide explained, was to help freshmen begin creating a support system and to guarantee that there would always be someone watching over them.
With all of the talk, I could not wait for the week to begin and was I ever in for a treat when the week started.
On Oct. 24, the announcement came over the loudspeaker at approximately 9:50 p.m. saying, “freshmen, transfers, and international students, you must be in your room in exactly ten minutes.”
My wing started going crazy. We ran from each other’s rooms, joking that this would be the last time we would see each other for a long time. After a few moments, our RA ushered us into our rooms and warned us to stay inside.
Soon we heard it; pounding on the doors, loud music playing, and worst of all – the sound of tape. Every one of my freshmen friends sent me a Facebook message, nearly all at once.
And if they weren’t on Facebook, they were on Skype. “I hear tape!” one friend wrote me in a panic. “I’m not going to be able to get out in the morning!”
Monday morning came and my roommate, Tracey Dykstra and I could get out of our room – but just barely. Tracey’s big sis had stretched men’s Depend diapers across our door. We carefully tore the bottom few off and found our treasures.
I was left a few goodies, and a magician’s costume, which I was instructed to wear all day. I did – to class, to meals, even to Chorale. In addition, I had to bring with me a magic kit and I was to perform six different tricks throughout the day.
Monday night wasn’t quite as frightening as the night before, now that we had a general idea of what would be happening. Tracey and I waited up for our bigs to come to our door, and then passed notes under the door with them.
Tuesday morning Tracey and I stood together inside of our room and slowly opened our door. A white curtain hung outside of our door and it blew gracefully as we stepped outside.
As we looked through our new gifts I discovered giant wall stickers, which I promptly stuck all over my room. After doing so I went back out to the hallway to discover my new costume for the day.
On this day Tracey would have to dress like a person from medieval times and I like the “alligator queen.” With my costume I found a note that told me to stand on a chair during lunch and announce that I was the queen of the alligators.
Lunch was fantastic – I danced the Cha-Cha slide with a few other friends, watched skits and dances, and listened to people sing. After a while, I built up the courage to stand on a chair and make my announcement. A loud applause followed.
Tuesday night was one of my favorite nights of the week! One of our bigs stood outside of our door decorating and whistled Christmas tunes at us. We stayed awake until past midnight passing notes under the door.
We opened the door Wednesday morning to find garbage bags covering the opening. As the door swung in green balloons fell inside our room forcing us to practically swim through them to get out of our room.
Tracey discovered the reason for the balloon color right away – she was to dress like a witch for the day.
I, on the other hand, was Garfield. Much to my professor’s delight, I gave a PowerPoint presentation that day to the class while wearing a mask and tail.
That night, my big sis, Jessica Zogbi, revealed herself to my twin and I because she couldn’t make it to revelation night. Jessica gave us shirts that she had tie-dyed with our initials on the front. Although we couldn’t go out that night, we decided to spend some time together later in the month.
Tracey and I locked ourselves in the room  and when our bigs came we passed tons of notes under the door with them. “There’s like 11 of us out here,” said one note. “It’s a huge mess, and so much fun.”
Tracey and I opened our door to find blue and yellow streamers weaved in front of our doorway on Thursday morning. There were horse posters plastered over our walls, and a final few gifts. Tracey would have to dress as a cowboy and ride her stick horse at lunch.
She asked me to join her and after we “rode” against each other she was declared the winner.
The whole experience was so great!

Popularity: 22% [?]

By Zahra Adni
Staff Writer
Being a junior at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College means two things: getting a little sis in the fall and getting your ring in the spring.
When I was a freshman all I could think about was Big Sis/Lil’ Sis Week.
I remember sitting in my room waiting for my big sis to come to my door so we could exchange notes each night.
This year when it came to choosing my own little I was nervous, yet excited!
I chose an awesome freshman I knew and hung out with often so the only hard part was keeping the whole thing a secret; which came to be surprisingly difficult.
The endless hours of preparing outfits and looking around for some awesome gifts while trying to stay within the new $15 daily maximum limit was hard.  Whether I stayed within budget or not is my own little secret.
The most exciting part of the whole experience was seeing how my little reacted to all of the gifts, notes, and outfits.
Even though I was horrible at keeping things a secret, I think this whole experience made up for the fact that my little knew I was her big.
I mean, I did give myself away with the awesome posters and gifts but it didn’t matter to me because I just hope that we can continue the awesome relationship that we had before Big Sis/Lil’ Sis week and the relationship that we have now that it is over!
Part of being a Woodsie is all of the amazing traditions we have.  But out of all of the traditions I would have to say that Big Sis/Lil’ Sis week is definitely one of my favorites.

Popularity: 23% [?]