Get Oriented With the NC State Bucket List
Your orientation visit is the perfect time to start checking off the milestones that will define your student experience as part of the Wolfpack.
It’s orientation season at NC State, and our campus is alive with students who are eager to kick off their college journeys. We’re giving you, the newest members of our Pack, a head start to becoming campus experts by highlighting a few of the most easily achievable items on the NC State Bucket List.
What’s the Bucket List, you ask? It’s your go-to guide to the essential activities, events and places that will mark your path to an NC State education.
Part 1: Orientation Essentials
Welcome to the Pack. As orientation gets underway, these are the low-hanging fruit on the Bucket List that you’ll almost certainly have the chance to complete in the next few days.
Take Your Picture With Mr. and Ms. Wuf
They’re NC State’s dynamic duo, our married mascots, Mr. and Ms. Wuf. You’ll see them often around our campus, starting with their appearances at Talley Student Union each morning during orientation.
These two “officially” tied the knot on Feb. 28, 1981, during a mock ceremony at halftime of a men’s basketball game in Reynolds Coliseum. The Wake Forest Demon Deacon, mascot of our visiting opponent and in-state rival, Wake Forest University, was kind enough to preside. The Wufs have been nearly inseparable since, usually appearing together at Athletics contests, university gatherings and even private events like alumni weddings.
Snap a photo with this iconic couple, then send it to the group chat to say, “It’s official, I’m part of the Pack!”
Learn the NC State Songs
“We’re the Red and White from State, and we know we are the best! A hand behind our back, we can take on all the rest!”
You’ll learn these words, along with the rest of the lyrics to the Red and White Song — NC State’s multipurpose pep anthem — from your orientation leaders. You’ll also get used to reciting them at times when our Wolfpack howls together, like fall Saturdays at Carter-Finley and all throughout Red and White Week.
But don’t stop with the Red and White Song. There’s also our Alma Mater, which you’ll sometimes hear played by our marching band, the “Power Sound of the South,” or sung by our fans after games, win or lose. And while the words to the NC State Fight Song aren’t known as widely today, it’s a beloved part of our identity that still gets play from our bands.
Take time to commit these songs to memory, and your dedication to the Pack will never be questioned.
Eat a Scoop of Howling Cow Ice Cream
Our university is rooted in North Carolina agriculture, so it should come as no surprise that we make our own brand of ice cream, Howling Cow, with the help of local dairy cows right here on our campus.
Howling Cow can be scooped up in a spectrum of tasty flavors, from classics like Cookies and Cream to NC State specialties like Wolf Tracks. Talley Market offers a curated selection of these flavors, so pop by during a break to sample the wares and find a flavor that matches your taste buds.
You likely won’t have a chance during orientation to visit the Howling Cow Dairy Education Center and Creamery, where over 300 NC State cows produce the milk and cream that make Howling Cow so delicious, or the Feldmeier Dairy Processing Lab, where students help create the finished product. But ice cream lovers should put both locations on their list of must-see campus destinations.
Part 2: Off the Beaten Bricks
You’re getting a feel for campus, so get out there and explore. Chances are good you can complete these Bucket List items between orientation activities or in your spare time afterward.
Meet the Chancellor
He’s the leader of our Pack, and if you don’t know him yet, you’ll get to know him soon. He’s Chancellor Kevin Howell, proud NC State alumnus and the 15th chancellor of our university.
Chancellor Howell keeps a busy schedule, but that doesn’t keep him from getting out and about to meet and speak with people across campus. You might just run into him during orientation, so keep those Wolfies ready (that’s the hand sign we use to say, “Go Pack!”).
If you don’t see Chancellor Howell at orientation, you’ll hear from him in the fall at New Student Convocation when he welcomes the incoming class to NC State.
Whisper in the Wolf Ears
NC State is well known for our contributions to the fields of engineering and design, and we’re also known to honor these contributions in buildings, landmarks and common spaces throughout campus.
You’ll find a pair of these monuments outside the south entrance to the D.H. Hill Jr. Library, where the inward-curved faces of two red-brick blocks stare at each other across a grassy lawn. These structures, called the “Wolf Ears,” are parabolic reflectors that send sound waves clear across the plaza. If you sit in one ear and speak in a whisper, a person sitting in the opposite ear will hear your message as if you were right there beside them.
Grab a buddy and try it out during a break. It’s a rite of passage and a perfect example of how, at NC State, even our traditions are grounded in ingenuity.
Paint the Free Expression Tunnel
Running beneath the railway tracks that separate Central and North Campus, not too far from Talley, you’ll find a canvas that holds the living, breathing voice of our student body: the Free Expression Tunnel.
Since the 1960s, this tunnel has offered students an outlet for creativity and free expression, and a bulletin board for campus news and events. If you’re not yet ready to wield a brush or spray can to paint the tunnel walls during orientation, simply strolling through is a great way to absorb the thoughts and voices of others.
Every student is invited to paint their handprint on a mural near the tunnel’s entrance at the Respect the Pack event during Wolfpack Welcome Weeks to promote a culture of respect for all at NC State.
Read Technician and The Nubian Message
Another great way to feel the pulse of our campus is to pick up the latest editions of our student-produced print news outlets, Technician and The Nubian Message.
These publications are part of NC State Student Media, an incubator for media production that includes six outlets and a business and marketing office, all run by students. Technician reports campus news and perspectives through a weekly newspaper and regularly updated website. The Nubian Message serves as the primary media voice for the Black student community, reporting news and perspectives through a bi-weekly newspaper and website.
Both publications move to an online-only reporting format during the summer months, but you’re still likely to find the most recent print editions at campus newsstands, including at Talley Student Union. They will return to their regular publication frequency when the fall semester begins.
Listen to WKNC 88.1 FM
Yet another source for student voices is WKNC, NC State’s student-run radio station, also part of Student Media. Just turn your radio dial (or smartphone radio app) to 88.1, and you’ll pick up everything from current events to the latest indie rock hits. You can also stream the station through two different webstreams: HD-1 and HD-2.
Support a Business on Hillsborough Street
Hillsborough Street, the lively frontier between our campus and the rest of Raleigh, offers easy access to restaurants, coffee shops, bookstores and retail outlets. This is our university’s front porch, where campus meets our community, as essential to the NC State experience as rallying around the Belltower lit red after a big win by one of our teams.
Many of these local businesses have supported our Wolfpack for generations, while others are newcomers to this historic street that grew up alongside our university. When you have the time, take the short walk through North Campus to Hillsborough Street, stroll a while, then stop some place where the vibes feel right and give it a try. It might become a new favorite spot.
Hillsborough Street is also the site of Packapalooza™, a day-long street festival during Wolfpack Welcome Weeks. The all-day party ends as darkness falls and fireworks light the sky above the Memorial Belltower — a grand finale you can also check off as a Bucket List item.
Part 3: Seeds of Future Exploration
Keep the momentum going. These Bucket List items lie farther afield or are likely too big to finish during orientation — but knowing about them and getting a start will set you up to continue exploring our campus this fall.
Eat at All the Campus Dining Halls
You’ll get a taste of the delicious offerings from NC State Dining when you eat at Fountain Dining Hall during orientation, but that’s just the first course. Our campus offers five dining halls, three food courts and dozens of cafés and eateries, each with a flair and flavor all its own.
Many dining options are closed during the summer months, so check the locations online to see what’s open. They’re each filled with a mix of excellent choices, whether you’re looking for a quick snack or longing for the taste of a home-cooked meal.
Visit All of NC State’s Hallowed Places
NC State is a campus of hidden beauty and storied history. Nothing exemplifies this more than our Hallowed Places — 10 locations around campus that anchor our traditions and hold a special place in our hearts.
You’ve learned about a few of these landmarks already, such as the Free Expression Tunnel, Memorial Belltower and Reynolds Coliseum. You’ll be introduced to more, including the Court of North Carolina, on your orientation tour. Others, like the Oval at Centennial Campus and the College of Veterinary Medicine Pastures, take a bit more effort to reach.
Each Hallowed Place is marked with plaques that explain the special meaning it holds for our university. Exploring these spaces on your own or with friends is a great way to begin learning how our campus and our history shaped the institution we are today.
Ride the Wolfline Around Campus
When you do need to get around campus, to hunt Hallowed Places or otherwise, the Wolfline is NC State’s fare-free bus service that can get you where you need to be. The red, white and black Wolfline buses are easy to spot as they move along their scheduled routes, stopping at designated stops, some shared with city and regional transit.
The Wolfline runs every day classes are in session, connecting the heart of our campus with Centennial Campus to the south, and westward to the Centennial Biomedical Campus. Along their routes, Wolfline buses serve riders at university-owned housing areas, privately owned apartment complexes and three park-and-ride lots.
Even if you don’t get to ride the Wolfline during your orientation visit, familiarizing yourself with this convenient form of transportation will serve you well when you need to get from one corner of campus to another.
Use the bookBot in the Hunt Library
When you make it over to Centennial Campus, the crucial southern extension of our campus that prioritizes research and partnerships, one of your first stops has to be the James B. Hunt Jr. Library. Time magazine designated this distinctive (and reflective) building the “Library of the Future” when it opened as NC State’s second main library in 2013.
The building is a learning laboratory that holds boundless potential for both traditional studying and tech-supported research and collaboration. The library’s bookBot, a space-saving, automated storage and retrieval system, can sort through two million books and items in over 18,000 containers to retrieve a user’s requested material within minutes.
You can even watch through a window as the bookBot’s robotic cranes slide past rows of climate-controlled bins to grab exactly what you’re looking for. It’s a small preview of the many innovations that will enhance your experiences at NC State.
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