The thought of meeting new faces and digesting a lot of information intrigues a lot of freshmen. During their college orientation, they listen with all levels of concentration, taking note of every single word uttered by college authorities. Some students, on the other hand, consider the whole affair tedious and time-wasting. They prefer being somewhere else. Some begin to ask questions as to the length of the introductory speech given by the management or how long will the freshman campus tour last.
College orientation lasts between 2 days and a full week, depending on the college management. It is a freshman introductory tour where the authorities in a bid to acclimatize the newly enrolled students into the college system conduct certain programs on a given day to help the students know everything there is to know about the college they will be spending the next 3 to 5 years of their lives in. The College orientation objective is not only to guide the students in knowing more about the college academic system but also to help them settle in faster and become more comfortable in such an environment. The management achieves such by creating sessions where the students get to meet with their fellow freshmen.
Most freshmen are so excited during such a process as groups are formed between people from different backgrounds and contact information is exchanged. A wealth of information is digested by these freshmen who take delight in giving their rapt attention to every word and sentence proceeding from the lips of the College authority. The feeling is surreal and is embraced by these students who are ever eager to learn new things. Most students on the other hand are lethargic. Not feeling the urge to mingle with other students or even listen to whatever information is being disseminated. Nevertheless, the college orientation is the most fundamental part of a freshman’s stay in school as it will help them adjust easily to a new environment, both socially and academically.
Read on to know everything a freshman is to expect during the college orientation
What to expect at a College orientation?
College orientation is the first official act a freshman is to undertake in college. It is a way of inducting the freshmen into the college system to make their stay in college less herculean due to a host of activities to come. The orientation helps freshmen to be able to settle quickly into their new homes.
Freshmen who are desirous to know everything as regards college orientation processes can learn what to expect and prepare their minds for such. Below are what a freshman can expect from a college orientation:
- Exploration of the new college
- Campus tour
- An abundance of important information
- Group/ Discussion sessions
- Rules and Regulations
- Processing valid student credentials
Exploration of the new College
When granted admission into a college, one of the first exercises the college administration usually designs is to help all freshmen know who the college administration is. Various professors of different courses and offices on the campus will introduce themselves to the students who might ask questions in return if such an opportunity presents itself.
The exploration exercise is to ensure that each student is familiar with the board of authority on campus and know where to channel relevant complaint if any in the nearest future
Campus tour
This exercise is conducted to help freshmen know about various facilities on the campus. The college campus is usually acres of land having various structures with various services and amenities offered to its residents. Examples of these structures are the:
- Health Center
- College Hostel accommodation
- Library
- Sports recreational center
- Internet center
- College Canteen
- Cafeteria, etc.
The creation of facilities on a college campus is dependent on the college management with strict adherence to the state’s education policy.
The above-mentioned structures offer various services to make the students’ stay on campus enjoyable and friendly to their academic aspirations. The students are led on a tour to these various places on campus to help them familiarize themselves with these areas in the event they would want to make use of such services in the future.
An abundance of important Information
Students are usually fed an abundance of information during the campus orientation. Some colleges even venture to go a bit further by providing students with pamphlets containing everything about the school. The information aims to help the students understand everything about the college they enrolled in – how it began and why it began.
Although some students with a keen and eager mind would consider this aspect of the orientation program exciting, some students consider it dull and unrefreshing.
Group/ Discussion sessions
During these sessions, freshmen are divided into groups. This process is one of the most exciting and fun-filled aspects of the orientation process as the aim is to ensure that students know who they’ll be spending the next 3 to 5 years of their lives with.
The Group/ Discussion sessions normally help the students get to make friends faster and know a whole lot about these friends. It is sometimes considered the magical bonding moment in colleges.
Rules and Regulations
Every institution or organization has basic rules and regulations to ensure that the affairs of such an institution are followed and their goals, objectives, and aspirations met. The rules and regulations of an institution or organization help it keep in check every person employed under its wings. The aim is to ensure that certain standards of such institutions and organizations are kept and adhered to.
Colleges apprise the freshmen of their rules and regulations and make them aware of the consequence of breaking those prescribed rules and regulations.
Processing valid student credentials
This is one of the vital and most important aspects of college orientation. Freshmen are to ensure that they process their credentials as this process will ensure that they are bona fide students of the college. College credentials include:
- security clearances,
- identification cards,
- passwords and usernames for online access,
- identification documents, etc.
Without properly processing one’s student credentials, one might have issues in the future as regards the validity of one’s admission.
College Orientation is an integral aspect of the college life of every student who has passed through college. It is the very first major coursework a student takes that includes academic and social aspects of the student’s stay in college.
College orientation though might be considered banal to some know-it-all students, it is an aspect of a freshman’s college life that needs adequate attention to ensure a happy stay in college.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How does one introduce oneself in an orientation program?
Be bold, confident, not too formal, and precise paying attention to all words uttered to avoid misinterpretation.
- Do parents or guardians stay for orientation?
Normally, it is not compulsory, but parents and guardians should know about the place their children or wards are to spend the next 3 to 5 years of their lives.
- What should one bring to orientation?
A notebook, a pen, valid identification papers, file folders (if necessary), school identification numbers, and any other thing needed to validate one’s admission.
