Freshman Orientation?!

I can’t sleep, so I blog.

It’s pretty surreal to think that I’m actually going to college in the fall. I mean, I read the brochures, I pictured myself on campus, imagined where I would hang out on the weekends, imagined where I would be studying, imagined what student groups and organizations I would join. I visited the campus and sat in on a class and wondered with whom I would be hanging out… And then I went to orientation on Monday and Tuesday. And I got my student ID card. And I got my class schedule. And I stayed in the same residence hall I’ll be staying in this fall. And I talked to potential future classmates, and when I met people, I asked them what their major was. People would introduce themselves by their major.

Orientation was awesome. Sure, most of the time was spent listening to talks and presentations, but they were 100% useful–info on health services, technology I’ll need to know, time management, ways to get involved in campus ministry, etc. We did have some downtime (and they brought a hypnotist!), and I got to know quite a few people. I wonder how many of these people I’m actually going to talk to next year. Hopefully at least a few.

We received our class schedules, and no doubt this is way different from what mine looked like last year. Seattle U is on the quarter system, which means three shorter terms during the traditional school year (plus summer quarter) instead of semesters. Anyways, my schedule for fall quarter consists of three core* classes, each worth five credits (meaning about five hours per week). I’m taking Introduction to Geology, College Writing, and Arabic Language I. Arabic! I am so psyched. Plus, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, that’s the only class I have, and it starts at 13:30. I think this will be just fine.

We were assigned our summer reading. Seriously, I have homework again. But instead of getting a test in the fall or having to put together a poster board, SU has this thing called Academic Salons. There will be discussions on this book (Crossing Into America, an anthology about immigration, basically) the first week after move-in, and throughout the year as I understand there will be several speakers and other events around the theme of “engaging worlds.”

My dad was fortunate enough to be able to join me for orientation. I basically only saw him for meals, but he tells me they just had a bunch of speakers, too, though he enjoyed it. I definitely recommend taking at least one parent to campus visits and/or orientation if possible. The priorities and perspective are going to be notably different from your own, but incredibly valuable. For instance:

Me: So, I talked to someone about studying abroad.
Dad: Can you use your scholarship?
Me: The Middle East.

This is my dad’s second time coming with me to an SU informational event. He’s even more sold on the school now (with the t-shirt and bumper stickers to prove it), but I think he’s still working on dealing with the whole out-of-state thing. Aww.

As a whole, the orientation experience has so far helped make this whole crazy college thing seem more real. And I feel like I’m more emotionally ready to hit campus in the fall, now that I’ve completed at least some of the obligatory sitting-in-a-chair-pretending-to-mess-with-my -cell-phone-because-I’m-too-terrified-to-go-up-and-talk-to-anyone. I don’t entirely know what I’m doing, but I kind of know who to ask. I haven’t found that BFFAEAE just yet, but schedules permitting I think I have people I can eat meals with unawkwardly. I’ve been told that studies show that students who go to their freshman orientation are more successful and happy in college than students who do not, which was not my motivator for going but good news considering I’m pretty terrified. Excited, yes, but terrified.

————

*Core classes are basically classes that are required of all students at a particular college regardless of major (these may differ from college to college within one university), which totals to about four quarters of classes. (Don’t worry, most of these overlap with major requirements, anyway, but I probably won’t be taking any major courses until sophomore year.) For instance, at SU’s College of Arts and Sciences, some of the core requirements are one course in a fine art, one lab science, one of two particular history courses, Philosophy of the Human Person, one of several ethics courses, and others. Since SU has a very distinct educational mission (that is, a dedication “to educating the whole person, to professional formation, and to empowering leaders for a just and humane world,” as they say), these courses set the foundation to further that emphasis. Many colleges have core requirements for similar reasons–to encourage a broad liberal arts perspective, to enrich understanding with some particular educational flavor, to make sure students are proficient in a variety of subjects, etc.