Orientation or Borientation?
Friday, July 2, 2010 by Sean Quinn 
Red Solo Cup worship begins at Orientation. Image courtesy of Flickr user Michaelcardus and licensed under CC by SA 2.0Congratulations. You've finished your senior year and have just walked across the stage to receive your diploma. Four years of hard work (okay, hard work might be just an overstatement) have culminated in this day and your life in high school is officially over.So, now what?
College. But first, there's Orientation.
It's kind of like college, but...not. You're there on your campus for a day or two, you might get to experience the dorms and residence halls, you might hear from some speakers from organizations and advisors from your college and you'll probably be registering your classes from the fall. Sounds like fun, right? Only if you make it fun. Here are some tips to not only survive your orientation, but to make it a kickass start to your college career.
Follow the Boy Scout motto and be prepared. Orientation is focused mainly on registering for classes - it would be a good idea to research your school's class offerings online and to have some basic idea of what you plan on taking in the summer or fall when you get there. It'll save you some time, some stress, and you'll have a better shot of getting into what you want to take. One of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is to "begin with the end in mind" - if you know what you're planning on majoring and/or minoring in, it makes registering for classes that much easier.
Don't be afraid to talk to and befriend other students. Ideally, staffers would love for you to meet your best friend in the world at Orientation. Most likely, you won't. But it is a good opportunity to meet some of the other young adults who you'll be taking classes with the next four years - even if you don't see them after Orientation concludes.
Be excited. Orientation will be whatever you make of it. If you listen to your advisors, take part in group activities and conversations, enjoy the company of your fellow college comrades, and are generally excited to be at the college where you want to go, your orientation will go swimmingly. If you decide, on the other hand, to be cynical and antisocial, you'll be counting down the minutes until you're free to go back home.
Quick caveat: Shy people can enjoy orientation, too. It's not an oral exam, you don't have to speak in front of a large crowd, and the only mandated conversation is usually one-on-one between you and your advisor. You can still be excited without being extremely vocal.
Grab every flyer possible. Part of this is for mom and dad. They might want to know the financial aid information or what classes you signed up for - but orientation only happens once. Campus organizations will be out tabling or handing out flyers and there's no reason not to grab them - for now. Once you get back home, you can sort through and see if the information from University Police or Student Government was worth it. You can always get rid of flyers, but after orientation's done, it's much less accessible to attain them.
It's not time to party - yet. Simple: follow the general rules of orientation. Don't smuggle booze, drugs, or illicit substances into orientation - save that for when college actually begins (and you're of age, of course).
Orientation is the beginning of what is often called the best times of your life - don't squander the opportunity to start off on a good foot.
Have any good orientation tips or stories? Let us know in the comments or tell us on Twitter.
Reader Comments (11)
I have been an orientation leader at the University of Hartford for the past two years and this post is spot on, have some questions prepared and try and take away as much as possible, this is where you are going to be "living" for the next few years. Also, don't try and smuggle booze or drugs in, we (orientation leaders) have been in college for years and are very aware, just stay smart for that one night or weekend and you have the whole year to do what you want, just enjoy it!
This post is awesome - and very timely. I just got done working as an orientation assistant at my university, and I can tell you the students that did these things definitely had a better time!
Orientation is definitely one of those things that does very little to actually prepare you for the rest of your college.
One of the best things I read from that was "get to know people" You never know who will share a class, a major, a dorm, or who will be one of your best friends when you move to a new school. Forget the friends you knew from highschool, get out there and meet as many people as you can!! The real world operates based on who you know, not what you know.
Another thing that goes in with that is the 'be prepared' argument. Pens, spirals, books, and most importantly, a solid laptop. I know Dell makes some solid little machines and offer deals for students. Even a quick search gave me this "$50 off systems $699 and above with coupon code: WQQ$MQ0M4JNCWD. Or save $100 off systems $999 and above with coupon code: B980P775CS2Z02. Go to Dell.com/DellU"
And after orientation and your first week on campus, party party party!! But pass your classes, lol
Thanks for the positive feedback, guys. I actually just experienced my freshman orientation, and in addition to a post my friend Sey Hee wrote here which basically fleshed out the "Be Prepared" section - the rest was my own experiences from my orientation at the University of Florida.
Thanks a ton for the responses - appreciate them and glad to know I'm getting it right. :)
Heh. I may print this out and show it to my residents when I have to orient them in August. We'll see whether they need the encouragement!
To give some context to my comments: I work at a large university as a First Year Mentor. We (15 of us for 4000 incoming students) are the student members of the orientation team that plan and run all of the social events at orientation week. We also do an info session, with small discussion groups, about campus life at the two day orientation that happens prior to arrival.
ALL of these tips are excellent for incoming students, but I would also add one: Be careful on Facebook. Yes everyone should know this by now, but during our training when Student Health came to talk to us they pulled up the facebook group for the incoming class to show us how students were already planning to party during their 2 day orientation. Their point was that we should try to encourage students to do things besides drink, my point however is a little different. I could see the full names of the students that posted as well as the dates they would be attending the orientation (they posted that themselves), so when one of them ended up in my discussion group, I started the discussion with, "Guys, we need to talk about Facebook...". My job is not to discourage drinking (it's to discourage stupidity while drinking), considering I'm an "alcohol enthusiast" myself, but incoming students need to be aware that what they post on Facebook is often being read by high level university administrators.
I REALLY regret not reading this before my orientation. However, UCF did do an excellent job with their orietnation, I had tons of fun, and I didn't know ANYONE there. This would have certainly helped in amplifying my orientation experience, however.
Great entry, Sean, keep them coming!
@Jay: I'm sorry you couldn't get to this before your orientation, but I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your session - pass this on to your friends who've not attended theirs yet! Thanks!
One other item I'd mention: If you have a less than stellar experience at orientation (because you didn't follow these tips of course!), don't go home and write off your college experience before it begins. I had the most awkward group of peers in my orientation group, and I was silly enough to convince myself that those 10 people represented the student population at my college. I spent the next month prior to move-in day worrying if I had my the wrong choice. Once classes rolled around and I found a core group of friends, I knew I made the right decision and loved every second of my four years there.
Great post Sean...ill keep these points in mind since my orientation at Miami is in four weeks
Good point Sandra, and glad you enjoyed it, Alakh! For sure, I know some people who had a bad time at orientation and are quick to write off their experience, but I'll be sure to pass on your advice to them.