Field Guide for Admitted Students

Sterling College » Field Guide for Admitted Students

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Submit your Fall 2021 Application Today! | Read More

1. Confirm Your Enrollment

Reserve your space and send your deposit
2. Complete the Required Forms

Fill out all the required forms
3. How to Get Here, What to Bring & When to Arrive

How to get here, what to bring & when to arrive
4. A Sense of Place: Expedition 1

For students entering in the Fall semester
6. Meet Your Field Guides

Get connected to the people and resources here to help you
7. Policies & Guidelines

Come prepared to thrive!
8. Make the Most of Your Time Here!

Make the most of your time in Vermont

Portal Quicklinks

Begin your journey!

Choose Sterling!

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” – Audre Lorde

Congratulations. We see the honor and courage in you, and we know that you have what it takes to do the critical work necessary to rebuild humanity’s relationship with the natural world. We believe in your abilities, trust in your creativity and can’t wait to co-create a sustainable future with you on our team.

This Field Guide is the portal we use to guide Admitted Students through the enrollment process. Navigating through this guide will ensure that you provide all the info you need to Sterling so that we can reserve your space and look forward to your arrival!

We’re here for you and so looking forward to your presence in our community and your contributions to our mission of ecological thinking and action.

Are you ready to roll up your sleeves and dig in?

Let's get started!

You are here.

Home Field Guide

Step 1: Confirm You're Coming

Step 2: Required Forms

Step 3: Packing List & Arrival Day

Step 4: A Sense of Place: Expedition 1

Step 5: Helpful Resources

Step 6: Policies & Guidelines

Step 7: Nourish Yourself

Finish Line:You're Ready!

If you follow the path through this Field Guide, we trust that you will get the information, contacts and details that you need to feel ready to arrive here. That said, we’re here – every day – and happy to guide you on this journey! Please feel free to reach out to us for any support you might need as you navigate this process!

Moxie Mehegan

Dean of Admission & Financial Aid
Jimmy Clark

Admission Counselor
Barb Stuart

Director of Financial Aid
Amalia Harris

Director of Admission Services

@adventurejournal talked with John Campbell, Founder of @alpine_luddites and Adjunct Faculty at Sterling College about our Gear Design and Repair class. "Well, I think I think the four-year model of education broken. I don’t think it actually works for today’s world. The skills that people are going to need due to climate change and other things that are on our radar aren’t taught in four-year schools and they aren’t taught in high school pretty much anywhere. Sterling is one of the few colleges that really takes that head-on," remarked Campbell. Read more. Link on bio.

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Sterling Alumnx (‘01) Theresa Snow, Founder and Director of Salvation Farms, conveys the origin of her non-profit and explores the practical and ethical importance of food surplus management. This conversation reveals the multifaceted potential of gleaning and surplus management activities, which serve as an eye-opening and activating type of experiential service learning while also supporting more equitable access to Vermont’s bounty of fresh produce. Theresa also speaks about her first-in-the-nation statewide study of edible food remaining on farms, and how to appropriately integrate technology and data to reveal supply-demand dysfunction and support more full food utilization for the benefit of farmers, eaters, and the environment. But in the end, she makes and defends some important claims about how change really happens -- and, despite all the good work that Salvation Farms and its organizational partners have done, Theresa doesn’t view institutions as the most important change agents. Link on bio.

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Sterling College is pleased to host an outdoor conversation with John Hayden and friends, Charlotte Rosendahl and Nicole Civita. Join us for Take A Walk on the Wild Side: An Evening with John Hayden and Friends on Thursday, July 22nd, at 7:00pm at The Farm Between in Jeffersonville, Vermont.

John Hayden has been working to design and implement agricultural systems with positive environmental and social outcomes for over 35 years as a researcher, extension agent, university educator, international consultant, and practicing regenerative organic farmer. Hayden's willingness to farm wildly and to share the bounty of his carefully tended, not-entirely-cultivated land among the more-than-human inhabitants of the farm created the foundation of Sterling's newest instructional site, The Farm Between. At the talk, John, Charlotte, and Nicole will explore the benefits and challenges of a wilder approach to farming and a more holistic approach to nourishment. The evening ends with a Q&A segment followed by light refreshments made by the Sterling Kitchen.

The talk is free and open to the public. Space is limited and parking can get a little tight. Consider carpooling with a friend. To help us fit everyone comfortably, it would be helpful to let Nakasi Fortune (nakasi.fortune@sterlingcollege.edu or 802-586-7711 x 147 know that you plan to attend.)

📷: Jessica Sipe

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New Podcast Alert: In this mini-cast, we rejoin Rick Thomas, Faculty in Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems at Sterling College, as he shares with us thought leaders that have inspired his work including Lynn Miller, the Small Farmer's Journal, Rural Heritage Magazine, and more. Take a listen and glean and apply the practical knowledge to your life.

Link on bio.

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At many higher education institutions, you are a number. At Sterling, with less than 125 enrolled undergrads, you are community. So if you've spent the spring and summer hiking and seeking out swimming holes, no worries. We got you. We will even waive the enrollment deposit to make things easy. So go for that July creemee run and come back and finish your application.

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We are saying limited seats, but that's almost funny. Why? Because Sterling prides itself on getting you out of your seat. Some call this experiential learning, we call it ecological thinking and action. So if you feel like college isn't for you because classrooms aren't for you, think again. Give us a shout and let us show you the inside scoop on outside classrooms. Send us a PM.

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They have an obsession with cheese; aged, blue, and smelly are all adored and cherished! They dream of someday being the front-human of a David Bowie cover band. They pose with chickens. If you are digging this person already, meet Moxie, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid. If you've dragged your feet all summer, have no fear. Fall enrollment is still in the cards for you, and this radical human can help make it happen. Drop us a PM and we can navigate you through the process in a way that leaves you nothing to bock, bock about.

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@guidesgonewild Podcast featured @len_tikyeler , Faculty in Environmental Humanities, and captured Laura's powerful testament to the importance of the right mentors and messaging, and how difficult it can be to see, never mind overcome, all the barriers we tend to build in front of ourselves. Take a listen. Link on bio.

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Take a seat around our virtual campfire and hear the stories we have to share: https://www.youtube.com/c/SterlingCollegeVT

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New Podcast Alert: @teaching_teamster , Faculty in Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems at Sterling College, joins us and discusses the definition of draft animal power systems, the student experience at Sterling’s Wendell Berry Farming Program in Kentucky, and the philosophy of Wendell Berry. Rick guides us through challenges of working with draft animal power and the conscious choice of doing right for the land. In this episode, we explore the failed food systems and transition from what is to what can be.

Link on bio.

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Just a friendly reminder from @onlyandeverlove , Dean of Student Life, to treat yourself to self-care with these ideas:

Rest. Nap.
Drink more water.
Take 10 minutes to breathe deeply.
Move your body in any way that feels good to you.
Talk with a friend.
Take a walk and practice using all your senses.
Make a gratitude list.
Practice saying no.
Forgive yourself.
Tell someone something you like or appreciate about them. ⁣
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#selfcarematters #selfcarelove #selfcaredaily #selfcaresaturday #goodvibes #selfcareeveryday #mindfulness #selfcareisnotselfish #loveyourself #selfcaretips #selfcaretip #selfcareisforeveryone #selfcare #positivevibes

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Here is some of what's happening behind the scenes of Sterling's Equity Council:

We co-created, funded, and hired Rachael Blansett with our friends at @collegeoftheatlantic . Rachael will start August 1 as our Diversity & Inclusion Fellow.

We kicked off a partnership with the @susucommunityfarm , a BIPOC-led community farming and healing organization. They are working on a workshop design focused on healing from embodied racial trauma for BIPOC and white allied staff and students this fall.

We formalized a partnership with the Vermont Pride Center and are together working on programming to provide skills, support, and community development for our Queer students on campus.

We cultivated a partnership with Out in the Open, an organization focused on supporting rural Queer individuals in New England. Together we are co-sponsoring a Sterling Pride event and a fundraising effort for Out in the Open.

The Offices of Student Life and Academics are reworking the new student orientation schedule to include more time and space for defining norms and supporting BIPOC & Queer students.

We are solidifying our support structure and relationship with the VA to support our current and incoming veteran students.

We are involved in a second and supported version of the Craftsbury Town Equity Team with increase structural supports from Sterling.

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