Oct 8 2025 | Hannah Field | Editor-in-Chief
First-year students took to their dorm halls for the 2025-26 academic school year Sept. 22, with most students experiencing their first classes Sept. 29. Historically, PACK Welcome Week introduces new and returning students to campus and celebrates them with games, treats and events.
However, most students are still finding their footing well after their first class. Western has its secrets: vacant study spots, useful but secretive resources, need-to-take classes and more.
ASWOU president Morgan Pemberton is in her fourth and final year of classes, majoring in American Sign Language and psychology with a minor in social sciences. Her biggest tip for first-year students? “Don’t wait ‘til Sunday to do your homework.”
“I wish I knew about clubs my freshman year,” said junior Makayla Wright, and then for students living in dorms, “Take advantage of your meal card when you live on campus.”
Western offers a variety of organizations and clubs to join on campus, notably ASWOU, Multicultural Student Union, Abby’s House, the Tri-Alpha Honor Society, Black Student Union and many others. Western also offers activity-related clubs, such as a swim club, board game club and rock climbing club. Plenty of other opportunities are listed on Presence, otherwise known as Involve.
Beyond that, Western has an incredibly safe campus — Monmouth has previously made lists of the top ten safest cities in Oregon — and is very walkable. Only a few blocks from downtown Monmouth, students can safely walk and indulge in hotspot locations, such as Yeasty Beasty, one of Western’s most favored restaurants and pizzerias.
“My favorite place is to go to Yeasty Beasty for pizza,” said senior Faithe Howle. “And my favorite coffee place is Bugles.”
Pemberton recommended the Werner University Center’s own eatery, The Summit, and commended their burgers as an easy on-campus dining option.
Third-year student Lua Pierce mentioned La Uvita Feliz, Mexican food located downtown.
Favorite study spots vary from Hamersly Library to the WUC, with Howle adding, “I like the education center, the second floor with the swing chairs. I like it in (Abby’s House), people can study.”
Howle is the office manager at Abby’s House, majoring in criminal justice and minoring in forensic anthropology. “I’m really passionate about gender justice and working in a nonprofit field,” said Howle. “Especially when traditional criminal justice paths don’t really align with my goals and what I value with myself, so I find that (here is) a really good way to use my studies in criminal justice to actually impact direct communities, which is really fulfilling.”
Students have many opportunities to find work on campus with groups like Abby’s House. Other departments offering student employment include Facilities Services, Valsetz dining and Student Engagement.
“I would say my biggest tip is to reach out for help and support,” Howle said. “There’s resources everywhere and for every kind of issue you could possibly imagine. So if you’re struggling with something, just reach out (and) they can, at the very least, point you in the right direction.”
Howle also encouraged students to take classes from Taryn VanderPyl, her favorite professor, teaching as an associate professor of criminal justice studies.
“I have a lot of professors that I recommend people take classes with. First of all, linguistics with Rob Troyer, 110 percent,” said Pemberton. “He is my favorite. One thing I value about educators is (being) someone who has a passion for what they’re teaching you — Rob Troyer is super good about all that, he’s really involved in his classes … I would say CM Hall, she teaches a sociology class called LGBTQ Studies. She’s a great professor, very thoughtful.”
Pierce named David Szpakowski in the earth and environmental science department as their teacher of recommendation.
“I really like (Western). I think the campus is beautiful,” said first-year Lily Slish. “A lot of the people who go here are very nice, and the teachers and staff are really, really helpful and resourceful.”
Carley Vevers, friend of Slish and a first-year student, expressed similar notions: “I actually like it a lot. I chose it because the campus is so small and it’s so homey. It makes it a lot easier to bond with people … I mean, finding classes the first week was kind of iffy, but like I said, it’s a small campus, so it’s really easy to pick up on things.”
For first-year Silvia Honaker, the biggest roadblock was navigation. “My sense of direction is like the opposite of good. Google Maps has been my savior.”
Honaker picked Western for its affordability, community and location, being closer to Honaker’s home town. “And some people I knew from high school were coming here, which was a slight benefit.”
Honaker has singled out pre-physical therapy as her area of study, picking Western as her stepping stool into the field and graduate school.
Information worth noting about Western would be its most popular programs: ASL, education and criminal justice. After all, Western is the only place on the West Coast where an ASL major is offered, on top of formerly being named the College of Education.
Contact the author at howleditorinchief@wou.edu
