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Orientation meets mixed reaction

The revamped orientation program has drawn mixed reactions from first-year students -- although many reported the new summer session was useful, many also complained that fall orientation was repetitious and dull.

Fall orientation "was okay -- some of it was helpful and other stuff was boring," first-year College student Sarah Marchetti said.

First-year students went through a four-day fall orientation program, from Saturday Aug. 29 to Tuesday Aug. 31, in addition to a new two-day summer orientation program that was implemented for the first time this year.

"I'm glad we had summer orientation because that did help," Marchetti said.

First-year College student Emily Koper also noted that fall orientation was tedious but said she was glad she had attended the summer session.

Like Koper, many first years said they felt grateful for the summer session, held in Hereford Residential College, because it allowed them to schedule classes and prepare for school.

"The summer orientation helped me with scheduling and ID's and got stuff out of the way," first-year College student David Schumacher said.

But regardless of whether students liked or disliked summer orientation, many agreed that the programs still need to be streamlined.

Some students did not like how parts of summer and fall orientation overlapped and were repetitive.

"The summer orientation is worthwhile. The problem with the fall one is they repeated a lot of things we just had," first-year College student Adam Kantor said.

Students said they liked summer orientation because it gave them a chance to take care of a lot of bureaucratic issues, such as signing up for classes.

"I liked summer orientation because you got to plan your schedule and you didn't have to worry about it" in the fall, first-year College student Amy Flynn said.

Participants said another benefit of the summer session was that they were able to mingle and bond with their fellow first years.

"I met a lot of people that I've been hanging out with," first-year College student Julie Stadman said.

But not everyone enjoyed summer orientation.

"Summer orientation was really boring," first-year College student Logan Self said.

First-year College student Christine Kalil also complained that the summer session was unproductive.

"Summer orientation was a waste of a weekend, other than signing up for classes," Kalil said.

But while many students said fall orientation was repetitive, some said they still thought it was useful.

The planned activities were fun and gave students an opportunity to meet others, first-year College student Sarah Slovensky said.

"It was cool to do the stuff planned for us [in fall], like 'Shakespeare in Love' in the amphitheater. It was a good chance to get to know people," Slovensky said.

"They did a good job of letting us mingle," first-year College student Lauren McIvor said.

Another positive aspect of fall orientation was the Activities Fair, some students said.

"The Activities Fair really helped out. I didn't realize there were so many clubs here as there actually are," first-year College student Josh Francis said.

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