Orientation: Easing freshman jitters
The thought of leaving family and high school friends to go to college can be
nerve-wracking, but LaGrange College's upcoming summer two-day Orientation sessions
are designed to ease those jitters—for both incoming freshmen and their parents.
Those interested in attending LaGrange still have time to sign up for the overnight
Orientation sessions, which will be held Thursday and Friday, July 12–13, and Thursday
and Friday, August 16–17.
Alex Orellana of LaGrange, who is originally from Guatemala, attended an Orientation
session in June and said he couldn't believe how LaGrange College already felt
like home.
"I'm already close to the new people I've met," says Alex, a soccer player who
plans to major in business management and accounting. "I already feel like they're
family."
Hayley Ritchie, a freshman volleyball player from Warner Robins, says she didn't
know anyone before Orientation except one student who attended her high school.
She says she found it easy to meet new people, and it especially helped that she
had a fellow volleyball player spending the night in her campus apartment at Orientation.
"I came into this deciding I would just keep an open mind and meet as many people
as I could," Hayley says. "I wanted to have a few friendships before I came in
the fall, which really helps so you don't feel completely lost and have to start
from ground zero."
Alex, Hayley and other incoming freshmen say upperclassmen on the Orientation
Team, or O Team, made them feel comfortable and welcome.
"Even though I'd come to visit the campus before, I was a little nervous about
Orientation," says Sydney Hagley of Newnan. "But when I got here, I was completely
blown away because I felt completely at home. I loved having the O Team around
to help us with questions we had and to do fun activities with us."
Even though the freshmen met with their advisers during Orientation, the O Team
members helped give them additional pointers on what classes might be beneficial
for them.
"The O Team was just awesome," Hayley says. "They jumped right in when we had
questions."
Abby Hall, a senior early childhood education major, has been an O Team member
since she was a sophomore and says she sees herself in the new faces that Orientation
brings to campus.
"It makes me feel a little old," she says, smiling. "Three years ago I was the
person who was nervous. I was a college freshman, and I didn't know what to think
or what to expect. It's easy for me to put myself in their shoes because I once
was in them."
For more information on the next two summer Orientation sessions,
click here
.