Summer as an Orientation Leader

YOU MIGHT BE AN ORIENATION LEADER IF...

- you send out mass snapchats of you being lazy at work
- you are able to sit through a presentation that you have heard 17+ times and still stay awake (well mostly stay awake)
- you understand how painful mingling can be
- you know what a matrix is
- you survived two weeks of intensive training.
- you have received free stuff/perks from campus partners
- you would never dare let a student enter the building without giving them a lovely greeting ;)
- you roll your eyes every time a students tells you they are majoring in premed
- you only have two shirts in your whole wardrobe. Black polo & Red polo
- 585-COPS will forever be ingrained in your memory
- you know what September means
- you spent your days at work betting with people which orientation leaders would end up dating
- you played matchmaker in your small groups
- you are constantly threatening students that they won't be able to sign up for classes
- you have a binder full of lists of freshman's phone numbers
- you constantly are noticing when your friends use exclusive language
- you are an expert at SOLER
- you've memorized every presentation in orientation
- you have mixed up building names on a campus tour before
- you have sat at a computer with one student for a whole hour helping them register for classes
- you have led a group of 300 students across legacy bridge
- you still wake up at 6:30am even though orientation is over
- you understand what it is like to take off the nametag at the end of day
- you jump for joy when asked to stuff bags
- you jump for joy when you are assigned to parking
- you cringe at the sight of pizza, specifically papa johns
- you know the game bunny-bunny or yee-haw
- you pray that the PC's will let you leave the labs first
- you are guilty of clumping
- you've ever been given the job to stand guard at the doors
- you've ever felt like someone else owned all of your personal time/life
- you have ever stolen a chocolate chip cookie
- you have a secret hide out in the union
- you feel a sense of power or authority by telling a student to stay off their phone
- you have ever told someone where a good café was on campus, but you have never actually been there
- you have to stop yourself when your with your friends from cracking orientation skit jokes

and that is only a small list!

 Summer of 2013 will forever be known as my summer working as an Orientation Leader at the University of Utah. 

What did I get myself into?

That is the question I sometimes asked myself.  Especially during Intensive Training before Orientation programs even started. 


In no way is working as an Orientation Leader an easy job.  Working long hours - 7am-10:30pm for the first day of the programs and 7am-4pm for the second day of the program.  5 days a week most weeks.  You are expected to stay positive and excited all day long, all summer long.  You are expected to know basically everything about the university.  You deal with frustrating students and angry parents.  Not to mention you get to sit through the same presentations every single day.  You get asked the same questions over and over again.  Oh and have I mentioned food yet?  Yeah you get to eat pizza every other day for lunch and barbeque chicken every other night for dinner.  Yummy right? no




I mean honestly I could go on and on complaining about all of the little things that sucked about work, and when I applied for the job I had no idea what I was really getting into. 

BUT

I also had no idea how much it would all be worth it and how much I would actually love being an orientation leader.





I love the University of Utah and I had thee most amazing first year.  Being an Orientation leader I only hoped that I could share with the incoming new students my love for the U and hopefully give them some tips for their first year of college.  We had all sorts of students (and also parents who came along) come through Orientation.  We had the students that really didn't want to be there.  We had students who were super nervous about college.  We had students who thought they already were prepared and knew everything about college.  Students from out of state and students from in state.  We had students who were excited to meet new people.  Students excited to get signed up for their classes.  Students who knew exactly what they want to major in and students who had no idea.  And sometimes students were a combination of a few emotions. But what I loved most were students who were excited for college. 

What made working as an Orientation leader fun was to see their excitement as they take their first step into college life.  College is exciting and new and different! You have no idea what to really expect, but you hope that it is going to be good.  I hope that the students I worked with will enjoy their first year at the U as much as I did and hopefully I was able to help them in some way with their transition to college.

Another great thing about working as an Orientation Leader, is we were each assigned to work with a specific college at the U of U as college experts.  It was our job to learn as much as we could about our college so we could help the students who would pick a major within that college.  I am SO happy I got to work with the College of Health.  Me and Jacob Bushman were the college experts and we honestly got the best college in my opinion.  Both of our majors are within the College of Health and our advisors were the best.  Aside from helping the students our advisors were always so encouraging and helpful to me and Jacob in giving us advice for our own paths and hooking us up with connections that will help us.  My favorite thing was to talk with the students as we took them to their advising and registration.  I loved learning about their dreams and aspirations for grad schools and med schools and just their majors in general.

 

The absolute best thing about being an Orientation Leader though, was the people I got to work with.  The other OL's on the team have become such close friends.  We first all met as we took a Leadership class together during the Spring Semester and then we all got really close when we moved in together.  So not only did we work all day long together, but we also lived together! And surprisingly we didn't get too sick of each other ;) We lived in the Benchmark Apartments on the U of U campus from the beginning of Intensive Training until our last orientation program.  Not gonna lie, we are all so different from each other, but we get along so well. It seriously was the great friendships, compliments, funny jokes, and everything else that got me through each day of work.  I am so so so grateful to have met these people and they have all each impacted my life in so many different ways.  I miss them so much.  It is so weird not to be able to walk out of my apartment and go next door and have someone to hang out with.  I am especially sad that I won't see them for so long since I'll be leaving here soon.  But really I am so grateful to have met such wonderful people who have helped me to be a better leader, friend, and person.

 

My First Semester

Well I've officially finished my first semester of college at the U of U and honestly it was fantastic.

I seriously love college.

And especially the U.

I am so glad I am where I am at in my life

and I am enjoying every minute of it.

So here are my thoughts now that I've finisihed one semester of college.

 



Dorm Life

Really it hasn't been all that bad.  The dorms really aren't that noisy.  I guess that could be because everyone on my floor is antisocial, but whatever. Also tip - top floor is the best...it may suck when you're moving in...but then you don't have to worry about the people above you making a bunch of noise through the floor.  Other problem is the HC food. If you have to have a meal plan with your dorm, than im just warning you now, even if you think it tastes pretty good the first week...you will get sick of it.  Also single room is the way to go for sure.  It's always nice to know I have my own space to come to when I get home from a long day of classes and work.

 

Roomies

Take time to do fun things with your roomies!  And if you feel like you don't have time to do fun things with your roomies MAKE TIME. Honestly I'm so busy that sometime I feel like I just don't have time to have fun.  But taking time to celebrate holidays or watch movies or eat dinner with your roommates is the only way you will become good friends.  And taking time to be a good friend is worth it.  Plus these are the things you are gonna remember from college.  Also it helps if you have awesome roomies like I do ;)

 

 

Getting Involved

Freshman Council was the best decision I've made coming to college.  Honestly I love these people.  Making a difference on campus, participating and planning fun activities, being a part of student government on campus...these are all good things.  But thats not why I love FC so much.  It is because of the people.  It is just so nice knowing that I have 50 other people at college who are going through the same things as a freshman that I am and that I have friends there to support me.  It is so great to know that I am a part of something and I belong somewhere on a big college campus.

 

 

Homework&Studying

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yeah that doesn't only apply to math homwork. but pretty much everyday in college. ESPECIALLY FINALS WEEK. okay so yeah college isn't easy. and yeah i've definitely learned a thing or two that I can work on next semester with my studying habits. But just study hard and do your best, and thats all you can do.

 

 

 

Which School?

THE U OF U. Okay maybe not for everyone...but what I'm getting at is pick the right school for you. And whatever school you pick, have pride in your school. Go to sports events. Participate in activities on campus. Pick a school that is gonna offer the major you want and give you the education you need. The U was the right school for me, and it has been everything I have hoped for.

limbo

Can someone please just get me to college already?
I know I'm really gonna miss Springville, and my house, and my parents, but I honestly cannot wait any longer.  Only fifteen more days, and it's killing me. I'm just so ready to start fresh and new.  This summer has been great, just like senior year was, but I just need change. I've been letting go of all my past thought on what my normal life used to be, because all I can think about is what life is gonna be like in college.  I can't wait to meet new people.  I'm so ready to just be able to be myself, instead of like in high school where I felt like I was limited by what people expected me to be or thought I was.  And not even just meeting new people, but I'm even excited to be in classes again. Yeah I know, nerd. But after this summer break I'm ready to study hard and learn new things.  I have high hopes for what college life is gonna be like and I know its not gonna be all fun and games and I know things aren't gonna be exactly as I dreamed them to be, but even if they aren't. I'm ready for it.  I'm ready for new.  And I'm ready to leave my old life as memories.  I just need to get up there. And I just need to get out of this limbo.