De Epistulis et Vestibus

Salvete Discipuli!

As you prepare to come to academy I wanted to address a couple of the things that I have noticed both as a student and in my previous year as an RA. 

The first thing I'd like to talk about is letter writing. When I attended as a student I only brought a couple stamps and ended up regretting it and needed to use stamps from my fellow students. As students, your correspondence with the outside world will primarily take the form of letters, and I very much enjoyed having access to that outlet. I highly encourage everyone to bring more envelopes and stamps then you think you'll want or need because a lot of people end up writing more than expected. Additionally I encourage you to get addresses for friends and family you might want to write so you can if the mood strikes you. You can also reach out to those same people to send you letters and care packages to help you settle in at academy. If you need the address it should be in your packet as well as on the side bar on this page.

The second thing I'd like to address is clothing and laundry. First of all it has been mentioned previously that you should plan to dress in layers, as the dorms can get pretty cold and it will be very warm outside, but I'd like to reiterate it. Having a sweatshirt with you if you get cold will make your time at academy more comfortable. You should also plan on having some clothes that you don't mind getting dirty/sweaty as there will be some opportunity for athletic events, and some events will involve paint that might stain clothing. As far as how much clothing to bring to academy you will have ample opportunity to do your laundry (at least once a week). Please plan on doing laundry as it is much easier to pack for a week of clothes and wash them. Please note that you may want more than one outfit per day as you will get a lot of your clothes sweaty just walking around on campus and will want to wear different clothes in the afternoon than those that you wore to class. Make sure to bring the things you'll need to do laundry (including quarters to pay for the laundry machines if necessary). This is important and something some students have forgotten in the past. I highly recommend the tide pods or similar detergents that come prepackaged to make it easier to pack and use them at academy (especially for those of you who usually don't do your own laundry). 

I hope that this helps you in your preparation to come to academy, I can't wait to meet all of you!

-Rob Williams