[choral music begins to play]
[Video on screen]: Snow falling on iconic Wellesley lamppost with Galen Stone Tower in the background
[Video on screen]: Snow on red berries in front of the Academic Quad arch
[Video on screen]: Two adirondack chairs covered in snow on the beach in front of Lake Waban
[Voice off screen, Izabelle Fernandez]: So one morning during my first Wellsley winter, I remember sitting in the McAfee common room working on a PSet, and my floormates come in and they tell me that it’s just begun to snow. I’m from Texas, so they collectively dressed me with all the winter gear they could find, and we made our way to the Academic Quad and took pictures under the main archway of Green Hall. And to this day, those are still the most iconic group photos that we have ever taken. My first snow was really the first time I felt like I found my group. I love my people, and they are the main reason that I love Wellesley.
[Video on screen]: Wide shot focused on Wellesley lamppost and snowy branches. In the background, students sled down Severance hill.
[Video on screen]: A student is working in the McAfee common room. She looks up and smiles. Someone off-screen hands her a winter coat, which she puts on, and then a fluffy white scarf and red gloves. The student smiles and poses in the winter getup. 
[Video on screen]: Students dressed in winter coats and boots, pictured from the waist down, walk through light snow on the road around Green Hall. They gather under the arch and pose for a group photo. 
[Video on screen]: The student who was working on the PSet lies on her back in the snow, making a snow angel. 
[Video on screen]: The group of friends stands in a semicircle outside Green Hall and simultaneously throws snow in the air. 
[Video on screen]: The group jumps and poses for a photo in the air. 
[Video on screen]: Snowy branches in front of a close-up of Galen Stone Tower
[Video on screen]: Outside of Pendleton Hall behind a snowy courtyard, shot through a window across the Academic Quad
[Video on screen]: Snow-covered cattails sway in front of Butler Boathouse. It’s snowing, and the boathouse comes into focus.
[Voice off screen, Macy Lipkin]: I joined novice crew this fall and met a bunch of great people, mostly other first-years. One day at practice, I sat down on an erg at the edge of the room, slightly separate from the varsity rowers, before a long steady state piece. When we were about to start the workout, one of the captains turned to the rower between us and said, "Ah, Zoe's here, it's gonna be great!" And then she saw me and added, "Oh, and Macy too, what a squad!" We passed a fist bump down the row, and I sat up a little straighter. There's a saying that novice + varsity = love. I left practice that morning feeling like we really were one team.
[Video on screen]: A student sits on a rowing machine on the right side of the screen, while two others stand off to the side. They move toward the next two ergs in line.
[Video on screen]: Tight shot of the first student tightening the straps around her feet on the erg. 
[Video on screen]: The three students smile and chat as they get settled on the ergs. The student on the far end fist-bumps the one in the middle, who passes the fist-bump to the student on the right side. 
[Video on screen]: Tight shot of a white poster with blue writing that says “Novice + Varsity = LOVE.” Part of an oar handle sits below the sign. Out of focus on the left hand side, rowers dressed in blue shirts work through an erg piece. 
[choral music, which has been playing in the background, grows louder]
[Video on screen]: Swans float on Lake Waban, with a snow-covered tree branch in the foreground and snow on the carved trees across the lake. 
[Video on screen]: Students pass each other walking to and from Clapp Library. Snow covers the lawn on either side of the path.
[Video on screen]: Close-up of a snow-covered gnome.
[Video on screen]: A student walks down a hallway of Founders Hall and turns into an office on the left-hand side. 
[Voice off screen, Karina Alvarado]: In my first year at Wellesley, I had a really tough time in one of my computer science courses.  I went to my faculty advisor's office, and started to talk to her about how scared, confused, and stressed I was about this class. She let me cry and hug her log pillow. After we talked through how I could improve, she told me that doing poorly in one class doesn’t make me a failure and reminded me that I was still doing well in all my other ones. At home, I knew who my people were, my support system. But now, at Wellesley, I had to start fresh. My advisor was one of the first people to make Wellesley feel like home.
[Video on screen]: The student sits in a comfy chair across from her advisor, holding a log-shaped pillow in her lap. The camera turns to show the advisor, turned away from her desk to face the student, smiling and talking, then zooms out to show the two of them chatting. The camera turns to show the student once more, smiling and nodding. It focuses on the log pillow as the student leaves the room. 
[Video on screen]: Snow-covered plants in front of a stone archway, then snow-covered brown leaves waving in the wind in front of a Wellesley lamppost. 
[Voice off screen, Nicole Ntim-Addae]: When I first came to Wellesley, I was struck by the differences between the United States and Ghana. It was so cold! I didn't know anyone. And, for the first time, I was building a community on my own terms. I have easily spent 40 percent of my time at Wellesley in Harambee House's kitchen -- so much so that someday, I would want a plaque there marking my place. During finals, I met one of my friends and we made brownies. It was messy, but it was joyful because we were doing it together. It was such a simple task, but in that moment, I felt at home. At Wellesley, the mundane becomes exciting with the right people.
[Video on screen]: Snow falls on branches outside Harambee House, then the camera zooms out to show Harambee House in full. A student walks up the path toward the front door. The shot changes, now showing the student from the side as she enters Harambee House. 
[Video on Screen]: The student hugs another student when she enters the room. They crack eggs and begin the process of making brownies. They laugh together.
[Video on screen]: Birds on a cold Lake Waban, as seen through the wooden posts of a bench on the path around the lake. 
[Video on screen]: Two wreaths decorate the front doors of Houghton Chapel as snow falls around it. The shot begins low, then rises to show the entirety of the chapel. 
[Video on screen]: Close-up of a red candle and a peach-covered candle burning. A piano player is barely distinguishable in the background. 
[Voice off screen, Eunbie Coe]: Winter at Wellesley means months of preparation for our Vespers concert. I remember my first Vespers concert with the Wellesley College choir; I was a first-year still rooting myself in the College. At the concert, we all wore red ribbons in our hair or on our wrists -- bringing us together as one community, singing our hearts out while sharing music and spreading some holiday cheer. The winter season at Wellesley just has a way of bringing us all together. At Vespers, everyone smiles a little wider, sings a little harder, and feels a little more like they’ve found a home.
[Video on screen]: Students smile and chat, eating cookies and drinking coffee. 
[Video on screen]: Close-up of a student’s hands tying a red bow in another student’s dark hair in the Multifaith Center. In the background, other members of the choir prepare for the concert.  
[Video on screen]: Two students smile as one finishes the bow in another’s hair. 
[Video on screen]: Close-up of a handful of members of the choir singing at the Vespers concert. The camera zooms out to show the whole choir, dressed in black with red ribbons in their hair or on their wrists, singing in front of an audience in Houghton Chapel. 
[Video on screen]: The shot changes to another close-up of the narrator and the choir singers standing around her on the risers and singing. 
[Video on screen]: The narrator approaches the inside doors into the chapel, dressed in black with a red ribbon in her hair. 
[Video on screen]: The narrator pushes through the red curtains into Tower Great Hall. She is wearing different clothes, and the ribbon is gone from her hair. She greets and joins other members of the choir who are seated on couches in the center of the room. 
[choral music, which has been playing in the background, grows louder]
[Video on screen]: Medium shot of the narrator singing with other members of the choir, dressed casually and seated comfortably in Tower Great Hall. 
[Video on screen]: The camera looks down as the choir continues to sing, gathered comfortably on couches and on the rug. 
[Video on screen]: The wooden swing outside Houghton Chapel, engraved with the Wellesley W and decorated in yellow ribbons, swings in and out of focus over a snow-covered ground.
[Video on screen]: Still shot of trees and a lamppost in front of Lake Waban at sunset. 
[Text on screen]: “Season’s Greetings” appears in the lower-right corner over the Lake Waban image. 
[Video on screen]: The video returns to the choir in Tower Great Hall. Students clap and cheer. The screen fades to a white background with a growing blue Wellesley W, made up of various snowflake shapes. 
[Text on screen]: Over snowflakes falling background in white writing: “Special Thanks: Izabelle Fernandez ’21, Macy Lipkin ’23, Karina Alvarado ’20, Nicole Ntim-Addae ’20, Eunbie Coe ’20, Wellesley College Crew, Philosophy professor Corrine Gartner, Wellesley College Choir, Choir director Lisa Graham”