Why Not to Fall Asleep During Your Freshman Orientation

After a lot of hard work, you’ve been accepted into your college of choice, have your financial aid in place and even have all of your stuff packed into your new dorm. You may feel it’s time to kick back and sail into your new life as a college student. But no matter how tuckered out you may be from all your end-of-summer partying, be sure to stay awake during your freshman orientation. While orientation may seem like just another boring monologue, it is chock full of information that will make your transition to college go more smoothly.

First of all, freshman orientation is the first time you register for classes. This can be a tricky process, and if you don’t pay attention, you may find yourself registered for far too many 8 a.m. classes for your own good, or registered for classes that do not jive with your work schedule. At orientation, academic advisors help you choose a set of classes that fits best with your schedule. Since most orientations offer priority registration, you may get stuck with a class schedule you don’t like if you miss out on this process entirely.

Secondly, freshman orientation usually involves a tour of the campus. Tours can help familiarize you with the names and nicknames of buildings on your campus and help keep you from looking like a noob on your first day of campus, asking everyone you meet where you can find your classroom.

Third, you get a chance to make friends with students who are already heavily involved in campus life. Student orientation mentors play a big role in acclimatizing students to college life, and can even give you the inside scoop while you are registering for classes on which professors are awesome and which are just plain awful for certain classes. Plus, they often let you in on the cool volunteer, leadership or fraternity-sorority opportunities on campus.

Finally, another reason to pay attention during freshman orientation is because you will be hearing from staff from a variety of departments—including housing, dining, financial aid and campus life—and you’ll have a chance to ask questions about what to expect from college, like what kind of vegetarian options are in the dining halls and what you are not allowed to bring to your residence hall. So keep those eyes open one way or another, and prepare yourself to learn stuff you need to know.

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 9:53 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.