My Dear New Evergreens,

Welcome to the EG Family!

I know it has been a long process for all of you. Not only did you have to apply and go through the interview process, but for those of you who had to reschedule your interviews thanks to Winter Storm Jonas, that was even more stress. And then on top of that, you had to wait two weeks for the letters to come out! But they’re finally here, so congratulations! There were a ton of tough decisions when it came to choosing the new staff, but I know that Scalzo, the professional staff, and the EPCs made good decisions.

So you may be thinking, what the heck did I just get myself into? What does it really mean to be an Evergreen. While there are a lot of extra perks to this position, the main role of an Evergreen is to help first-year students transition to college life during their first year here. And that’s why this job is so rewarding. You get to watch your students grow so much over an entire year and it’s amazing to witness. But you probably knew that. That’s why you applied, so you could mentor new students.

So what else did you just sign up for? You just signed up for Friday afternoon meetings. You just signed up for committee meetings. You just signed up for listening to Zach from SWWP tell you how many calories are in a Chipotle burrito (seriously, if he doesn’t whip this fact out again, I will be disappointed). You just signed up for EG Lock In, a night of games, music, costumes, and competition. You just signed up to yell on the curb, guiding cars into orientation. You just signed up to make your own question ball, promising to protect it from Scalzo’s pen and from cars on Cold Spring Lane. You just signed up for 6 a.m. breakfast on the same day you move in the entire Class of 2020. You just signed up for one-on-ones and Messina hours for an entire year. You just signed up for a new Loyola family.

You just signed up for one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.

Being an Evergreen definitely has its perks and its downfalls, but being able to make at least one first-year feel more comfortable at Loyola is definitely worth the sleepless nights and the long days.

So, congratulations to all of the new Evergreens. I can’t wait to meet all of you in the upcoming weeks. I sincerely hope that you all love this job as much as all of the returners do. Don’t worry, it’s gonna be an amazing experience.

Love,

Your fellow EG.

P.S. Soon you can take your own iconic balloon pic!