Importance of Freshmen Orientation at College

Orientation just ended a week ago at school, and being a sophomore I noticed some things that the freshmen were missing or that I was missing.

It’s getting you used to a whole new environment for starters. That means different things for different schools, if the administration has no idea what the student body is like, the orientation is going to stink. Look for student run events, those will usually be a better depiction than anything else.

You’re going to be dealing with different issues. I’m guessing this is the justification for the hours and hours of sex/alcohol that freshmen always get shoved down their throats at the beginning of the year. Everyone’s so overloaded with it that a good school will try to make it fun for the students, even if they have to sit through hours of it. But there also has to be a balance with the severity of the conversation, because these are serious subjects, we are kidding around here. Finding that line is super important, because this is their first exposure to the college and how it deals with these issues.

Demonstrating the diversity of the campus is always something that I notice. Sure, you can show off the great LGBTQ community there is, but the straight kids might feel a little left out. I know that it’s usually the opposite, but remember that there are people of all types and there needs to be something welcoming for everyone. The A does stand for ally, among other things.

Putting them into groups that might get along. My group didn’t, I spent all of freshman orientation alone. It’s partially my fault and partially the college’s, they should have realized that groups composed entirely of females aren’t going to hang out together if all the other groups are co-ed. I’m not sure what the solution there would be, but I do know that all of my current friends had an entirely different experience than mine. And they continue to do so since they are still close to their group and I’m not.

Freshmen orientation is one of those things that’s easy to dismiss, but it’s very important for anyone entering a new college. This is your new home, and the administration should make you feel welcome and introduce you to life here.