With three days left of New Student Orientation, freshmen appear satisfied with the programming, reasonably settled, and ready for courses to begin.
For many students, the predominant feeling on their first day at the University was excitement with a hint of over-stimulation. Many said that arrival day went smoothly, with minor missing items being the main hang-up. A few students cited the fixed departure time for parents as a positive feature of the schedule.
“Parents leave, and everything sort of stops,“ said Justin Wayne ’12. “And then 20 minutes later, everything picks up again.”
Most students noted that the orientation schedule kept the momentum going, providing opportunities to meet students in settings ranging from residence halls to interest groups to square dancing and karaoke. Along with the social events, freshmen cited meetings with academic and peer advisers as some of the most helpful events. While the Public Safety presentations appeared redundant to some, their value seems to have been appreciated.
The two concerns looming in the freshmen’s minds were the return of the rest of the student body and the beginning of classes. Staff and students in the International Student Orientation program said that it was much easier to meet people with only 84 new students on campus, as opposed to the 721 freshmen now on campus or soon to arrive.
Some students had been somewhat confused by the pre-registration process, but were confident they could find a good group of courses.
“They seem to know what they’re doing better than I did as a freshman,” said Orientation Leader Hoang Nguyen ’11.
While the seven days of unpacking, informational meetings, and social events on a freshman-dominated campus have been appreciated, students expect a change.
“It’s good, but it’s kind of odd,” said Matthew Ruggiero ’12. “It’s somewhat surreal.”
“It’s the honeymoon phase, like they’re trying to show you that you made the right decision,” continued Jessica Placzek ’12. “You don’t have to deal with any of the real work, like classes.”
In addition to full dorms and the beginning of classes, September will also bring the reopening of campus dining locations besides Usdan, and hopefully the completion of construction projects in Exley Science Center.
The clear distinction between orientation week and the rest of the semester may account for some of the anxiousness students expressed.
“When you see groups of students during the day, and also at night, you can feel the cloud of nervous energy,” said Peer Advisor Katherine Bascom ’10.
Despite any nerves, students appeared happy with the past few days, and with what they expect from the next few days. Although many aspects of the University wait to be discovered, freshmen felt they knew enough for the moment. Some even wanted things to speed up a bit.
“I don’t think we need a full week,” said Seth Hafferkamp ’12. “I could just start now.”
Others, though, were content to wait a bit longer.
“A honeymoon should be a week long,” Placzek said.
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