Is it time to rethink freshman orientation?

By Gionna Bean, Opinion Editor

New students gather at an orientation presentation – Photo by Gionna Bean

Organized annually by Student Activities and Orientation (SAO), freshman orientation took place Aug. 13-16. The activities and presentations vary from year to year, but the main objective remains the same: to introduce new students to the college. However, students have mixed feelings about this year’s orientation, leading some to wonder if something needs to change about the event.

Each orientation relies on orientation leaders (OLs) to lead the freshmen. Each OL is assigned a group of freshmen and they receive a team name. This year’s theme was Marvel, so each team name was a Marvel superhero.

Despite the fun names, OLs ran into serious issues. One of the biggest concerns was the timing of events. Each year, a service opportunity is put together through Project Unite in which students participate in crafts that benefit the community. This year students could choose from three crafts: making dog toys out of old t-shirts, making tie blankets out of old blankets, and putting together care boxes.

Sustainability presentation – Photo by Gionna Bean

Sophomore CJ Guillermo was an OL for the Spiderman group. “I do think the service project this year, though awesome, took too little time, and the scheduled slot was way too big,” Guillermo said. “The freshmen flew through it and we ran out of blankets to make. I think the timing of stuff could’ve been more well thought out, especially given how big the incoming class is.”

In fact, the freshmen class for this fall is the biggest one seen in years, at over 400 students. This may have caused a lot of the scheduling issues, as it certainly caused group leaders to feel overwhelmed at times. “We didn’t know what to do with them during group time, so a lot of the time we would just let them go back to their dorms,” sophomore Kendall Ursul, OL, said. “I do think it could’ve been better communicated to us what we were supposed to do with them.”

Another common problem brought to the forefront was about communication. Prior to the scavenger hunt in which the students were led on a tour of the campus, it was unclear where groups were meant to start, causing confusion. “I thought we were supposed to meet at Donnelly first, not Wege,” sophomore Kerina Byard said. The error in communication didn’t lead to any notable disruptions to the schedule, but lapses in communication such as this are what could be easily avoided in coming years.

Disregarding the logistical issues, orientation was highly successful in terms of community building. “I met one of my best friends during the socials,” freshman Oscar Sanchez said, “and I think a lot of the activities were really fun, especially the morning stuff with the icebreaker games.” Hooray, which was the morning portion of orientation, consisted of a variety of active icebreakers meant to get freshmen talking to each other. The session was held by Lonnie Scott, one of the developers of the Leadership Voyage program that travels to different colleges and helps acclimate freshmen to college life.

Those who helped put the orientation together also had a good time. “With that being my first orientation, I was just excited to be part of it and see the behind the scenes,” SAO student worker junior Cristiana Worthams said. “I was also so excited for the freshmen to be on campus, and I was happy to be able to get them accustomed to college life.”

This brings up something the college should keep for future orientations: the atmosphere of excitement for a new stage in life. Since the primary goal of orientation is to help students adjust to college life, future events should aim to maintain that vibrant energy while also improving organization and clarity, minimizing confusion and maximizing the enthusiasm for what lies ahead.