8 Semesters to Go: 2024 Edition

8 Val dishes worth waiting in line for:

1. Butternut squash pasta — or the sausage one if you’re weird
2. Lasagna
3. Autumnal beef stew (controversial)
4. Bulgogi bowls
5. The grilled cheese, incomplete without the tomato bisque
6. Chana masala with naan
7. Pierogis (if you add sour cream)
8. Pasta with vodka sauce

7 Do’s:

1. Have a crush in every class — it’ll make getting up in the morning that much easier.
2. Watch the sunset on Memorial Hill. Or from behind JChap if you’re feeling crazy.
3. If (when) Val is insanely crowded, head outside and upstairs to the Valcony (Val Balony).
4. Go to events with free food (99% of the time it’ll be boba, but still).
5. Reserve Keefe theater to have a movie night with your friends
6. Cut through SMudd to get from the First Year Quad to the Greenways.
7. Go to the Tread Shed to keep your bike in shape.

6 uses for your Amherst Student ID:

1. Use the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) to explore the area.
2. See a movie for free at Amherst Cinema Thursday through Sunday after 7 p.m.
3. Visit the Emily Dickinson Museum.
4. Take advantage of Massachusetts’ amazing libraries, from the local Jones Public Library to the Boston Public Library.
5. Check out books from 5 College libraries through Frost.
6. Get into your dorm. And other people’s.

5 college spots in the 5 College Consortium:

1. The gorgeous library at Mount Holyoke College.
2. The delightful Eric Carle Museum and Yiddish Book Center at Hampshire College.
3. The beautiful botanical garden at Smith College.
4. The nationally lauded dining commons at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
5. At Amherst College … you’ll be too busy taking classes!

4 underrated classes to take:

1. Geopolitics and American Foreign Policy, taught by professors Gordon Levin and Pavel Machala, who have taught the class together for — literally — decades. Come for the interesting reading list, stay for the adorable bromance.
2. For the humanities major who wants to tell their parents they took a STEM class: Molecular Gastronomy and Food Science: From Test Tubes to Taste Buds, taught by professors Patricia O’Hara and Mona Wu Orr.
3. Sexualities in International Relations, taught by Professor Manuela Picq. It’s not underrated at all. But it’s not overrated either.
4. If you can drag yourself to the Octagon at 8:30 a.m., Shakespeare and the Law with Professor Adam Sitze is so worth it.

3 places to study that aren’t Frost or SCCE:

1. Contemplate your life amidst leafy plants and religious texts in Pemberton Lounge in Chapin Hall.
2. Everyone knows the Mead Art Museum reading room ceiling. Unless you don’t … then get yourself there.
3. Val. Participate in the time-honored Amherst pastime of “Val sitting” by hogging one table for hours on end, pretending that you’re studying but really just people-watching. Bonus points if you stay long enough to eat two meals in one sitting.

2 Don’t’s:

1. Commit floorcest (unless it’s true love).
2. Run into your professor at Black Sheep after you called out of class sick.

1 publication to read:

1. Your go-to, controversy-free, comprehensive, 100% accurate source for news on and off campus: The Amherst Student!