As a freshman at Hofstra, I really wanted to become a Welcome Week Leader. I wanted to follow in the footsteps of my Welcome Week Leaders and help the incoming class of 2020 with anything that they needed. I wanted to be a part of the freshmen college experience and help them along the way. Summer flew by and before I knew it I was back at school ready to begin Welcome Week training. I did not know what to expect, but I was definitely excited. When I walked into training, I saw many familiar faces as well as many unfamiliar faces. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. Even though I was crazy tired after every training day, training really was an amazing experience. I was socializing and becoming friends with so many new people! I was connecting with Welcome Week Leaders from all grades and majors. I genuinely loved my entire Welcome Week staff. They are all such amazing, funny, and unique people. The beauty of Welcome Week is that you meet and connect people who you normally would never associate with! Hofstra is a decently sized university so it is basically impossible to meet the entire student body. Fortunately, Welcome Week introduced me to people who I would have never met before. People tend to stick with people who are a part of their majors, clubs, organizations, and dorm buildings. However, Welcome Week allowed people who have all kinds of interests and experiences to come and work together.
I have my shy moments but I am generally a very social and open person. During Welcome Week I was able to embrace my outgoingness and connect with so many people. Meeting and bonding with my group of Welcome Week students was such an amazing experience! I loved each and every one of my students. They were all so unique and lovely. I genuinely appreciated how respectful they were to me. Certain Welcome Week student groups can be sassy, nasty, or disrespectful to their Welcome Week leaders. The students may look down on their leaders and not take their position seriously. However, my students did not do that whatsoever. They were respectful and friendly at all times. They listened to me without question.
I went out of my way to make sure that my group felt comfortable around me. I did my best to get on a friendly level with them. I joked around with them whenever we were together; I never took my job too seriously to the point where it was no longer light-hearted.
I absolutely loved seeing my staff and students around campus! I greeted everyone with a giant hug, smile, and wave. My level of excitement and peppiness during Welcome Week was at an all-time high. It got to the point where I was literally known as the peppy Welcome Week Leader. I did my best to send good vibes all around. Not only did I go out of my way to be enthusiastic, I went out of my way to be helpful. As a Welcome Week Leader, it is your job to be helpful in every way possible. I went out of my way to help my assigned students, students who I was not assigned to, my staff, and my boss. It felt so good to be helpful just for the sake of it!
I never thought that I would love the Welcome Week program as much as I did! Choosing to be a Welcome Week Leader was one of the best decisions I ever made at Hofstra. I plan to apply for the Welcome Week Leader position for the upcoming academic year. I love my Welcome Week staff and students so much and I hope to see them throughout the school year as much as possible! I recommend every Hofstra student to apply to become a Welcome Week Leader. It is an amazing experience and you will not regret applying.
