What is there to do at Williamstown?

jmj · 10-07-2009, 10:01 PM

I come from an urban area and there a lot of malls and places to go here.
I was wondering if there are malls or anything around Williamstown.

2bizee · 10-07-2009, 10:07 PM

Go hiking. You don't need anything that you can buy at a mall anyway. There's a great cinema in Williamstown, lots of great live music shows at Williams, at MassMoCa and at MCLA, and you would be surrounded by really interesting people at Williams that you can TALK to.

mythmom · 10-07-2009, 10:26 PM

The mall is boring and twenty minutes away. There is an indy cinema in town. North Adams, very close, has movies, and the mall has a multiplex. Bennington is not far.

However, without the bus or a car, the town has a lovely cinema and some restaurants.

There are two art museums, lots of music and lots of theater on campus as well as lectures and public discussions.

And yes, hiking and mountain climbing, skiing.

tmat91 · 10-07-2009, 10:58 PM

Do any well known speakers or musicians ever come to campus?

commserver · 10-15-2009, 02:42 PM

My dughter is too busy studying to think about anything else. She is 1st year student and taking pre-med track courses: Bio, Chem and Calculus. The only only easy course is Spanish.

She says that she has been very busy studying this past weekend as it seems that the teachers are piling on the work.

Life at Williams is what you make of it. She hopes that things will lighten up!!??

williamsdad · 10-15-2009, 03:58 PM

My S is also incredibly busy. I don't think things will lighten up, though.

nceph · 10-16-2009, 10:49 AM

Here's what some students are doing today: Williams Outing Club - Siberian Mountain Day

HorseRadish · 10-16-2009, 10:43 PM

Dearest JMJ:

MALLS?

Anything around Williamstown?

There are boulevards in Paris, London, Chicago, New York, Buenos Aires, and other metropolitan communities. Perhaps you need to be seen, and more importantly, see others in their finest attire and accoutrements suitable to your sensual need for visual discovery.

Alas, Williams College is a mere shadow of the agitation one finds within cosmopolitan communities filled with the pedestrian and the commonplace. Here one delves within the mind, the body, and the spirit of our souls, where we through hard work and athletic activities rediscover ourselves through the myriad challenges that bind us to one another as Ephs.

As you require entertainment, I suggest references to state supported institutions where the public is on display with its incessant emphasis for fanfare and their constant displays of "gain without pain".

Mycroft · 10-18-2009, 10:19 AM

You might want to check out www.wso.williams.edu; this web site shows some of the activities going on each day -- the clubs, the discussions. It really depends upon what environment best fits you. Our son loves Williams and is busy all the time with studying, friends, clubs, music, talks, dinners. It would be up to you to determine if there were enough to make you happy. Would you join a club, write for one of the publications, take music lessons, or get involved in research? Certainly visit the campus and spend some time in the area to see if it is right for you. And check out the web site to see if there are activities that interest you and to get a feel for the campus life.

Vernalagnia · 10-30-2009, 01:00 AM

Check out the Alley in North Adams, first Thursday of every month they have stand up comedy, rest of the time excellent food and a little club on certain nights.

I'm a Bennington student, excellent guys run that place though. If it wasn't so far I would make more of an effort to go there. I said I would do my part.

mythmom · 10-30-2009, 03:58 AM

S used to do all the things mentioned above, but this year (junior) his courses have gotten so demanding that he has had to cut most of those things out of his life. By that I mean performing in musical groups and acting in plays.

So it's not a question of a enough to do, it's a question of not enough time to do it.

He still catches the occasional movie at Images (theater right in town) or in North Adams, he still hikes, and he still visits the art museusms. Images just had Where the Wild Things Are.

bruinephland · 11-09-2009, 11:22 PM

I'm a (currently procrastinating) senior from a large west coast urban center and haven't really ever had a problem with finding things to do with myself out here. While the earlier parts of the thread have touched on some good points, I would say that neither North Adams nor the Berkshire Mall (each a short drive away) are big parts of Williams social life, unless you need to pick up stuff at target or walmart. Also, it is very possible to have a social life while still getting your work done (unless you are an artstudio/comsci major, in which case you will be doing what you love anyway). Williams does a great job of bringing in interesting speakers, has several pretty cool concerts every year, and generally makes it pretty easy for students who have initiative to use college funds to have fun. The social life basically begins and ends with partying in the dorms, though. Security is very understanding (though they try not to act like it), and getting alcohol is never a problem, no matter what BS the fiske guide or your tour guide says about it. Your freshman year social scene will be dominated by your entry, which is awesome. I have a very close friend who goes to Yale and even their residential college system does not come close. If you find yourself ridiculously bored, hit up a professor and they will be glad to hang out with you; I am not particularly outgoing, yet professors here will ALWAYS put in effort to get to know you.

At the end of the day, if you want to go to great art museums we've got two of those, if you want to go to concerts you'll probably have to bum rides (or zipcar!) out of town except for the 4 or 5 concerts per semester, and you don't want to hang out at the Berkshire Mall or North Adams Wal-Mart, trust. Social life is about hanging with your awesome friends, learning to love (then hate, then love again) Keystone Light, and realizing how lucky you are to be in a place like Williams that pretty much lets you do whatever you want. Though every once in a while I feel like it would be nice to be in a place like Columbia or UCLA where I have so many choices of things to do, it's not a big deal, and if you make friends (which you will) you will enjoy yourself no matter how tiny the screen at Images is. I hope this has helped, now if you'll excuse me, I have a book to read before tomorrow.