It may seem like the easiest job in the world, but I assure you it's one of the hardest most rewarding ones you'll ever apply for. Let me share some bullet points about things that aren't meets the eye with your polo-wearing, khaki-loving Orientation Leaders (maybe you'll learn to love us a little bit more- if possible). *Many exclamation points and caps will be used in this article because I am VERY excited/obsessed with orientation*.

We're dedicated. We'll "try everything". Even if it's completely out of the job description, we'll do it for the incoming students and the office of campus life. Whether it's driving on the golf-cart putting signs out at 7am or blowing up inflatable GIANT ducks or putting together hundreds of backpacks and patiently waiting your arrival, there are way more things in our job description than you would think, and you won't know what they are until you're in the heart of the orientation experience.

We don't get sick days. No matter how sick or "not feeling up to it" we are, we still have to be there and on top of our game at the crack of dawn. We're basically required to be happy ALL of the time whether we are or not, so try not to do things to make us angry on purpose to impress your classmates (you know who you are).

We're more tired than you are (I promise). After getting 5 hours of sleep for 5 weeks straight, most of our energy is just exhaustion put into high gear. There are many cases of the sleepy-ha-has. If we stop moving, we would probably pass out. This would explain why we're constantly off the walls and want to get you involved 100% of the time so we're not making a fool of ourselves alone.

We're just as nervous as you are the day of orientation. Orientation is a big deal, for everyone involved. It's our first day of school too! (sort of). It's the first time we're meeting most of you and want to make a lasting impression. We want to make sure you'll enjoy yourself as much as we have, which puts a lot of pressure on us when we get down to it. So don't be afraid of us! We want everything to go as perfect as you do, don't worry about messing up, we promise we've made bigger mistakes- we're probably just hiding them so you don't think we're crazy at first glance.

We're more obsessed with you than you are with us. Nine times out of ten, we stalk you on social media after you've followed us. We LOVE when you share on social media how much you loved orientation- that means we did our job right. So feel free to rant about anything and everything about your orientation. Also, it's okay if you didn't have the best time of your life with us (even though that makes us sad), that does NOT mean you're not going to have fun in college, you'll find your way like we did. And if you don't at first, you have us to help you out.

We get paid to be friends with you, so let us. I'm sure you're super anxious to find out what's happening on the internet 24/7, but you only get one orientation! So when we give you a hard time about being on your phones or talking to the person next to you, it's really because we don't want you to miss anything. We're not monsters, we just want to get to know you so you know that our college is where you're meant to be and that somebody cares about you. Orientation is built to prepare you for the next four years. If I could go through Orientation again, I'd record it all so I could remember every single thing that happened (except don't do that without our permission, that's a tad much).

We love each other a little too much. I could go on for hours, so I'll just keep it this simple- they all have a piece of my heart and will always do so.

We spend all our time together, even when we're off the clock. After spending 20 hour work days with each other, you would think you would want some alone time, but when I had to go home for the weekend, I felt like I was missing out. Whether it's wandering around campus at wee hours of the night, or sitting in a circle sharing our most embarrassing stories, we're as corny as these groups will come. We're utterly, disgustingly obsessed with each other and have no shame about it.

We will always tell you the truth. We want you to have the best experience possible, and will never sugar coat anything. What good is that? At the end of the day, everyone deserves the truth, and will get you to the point where you're as ready and comfortable as possible for the best and worst moments of college. Take everything with a grain of salt because what one thing we don't like, might be something you love about college. Experiencing everything yourself is the only way to get through it, so be patient, your answers will come.

We actually love our school as much as we say we do. We know we love our school with all our hearts, but sometimes it's hard to express that other than ranting about how much we love everything. When you ask us questions, we have more leeway to go into detail about what we love about school and why we love it. So never be afraid to ask questions, no matter how "stupid" you think they are. Odds are one of your fellow classmates has the same question but is too awkward to ask it.

Our job doesn't end after you leave your orientation. Orientation might be over, but our jobs are never finished. We will always be your guides to everything college. Take us or leave us (don't leave us, please), but we would love to be your best friends, or someone you just ask questions to once in a while. We will be there for you as much or as little as you want us to.

Orientation has shaped who we are as people. Whether we had good or bad experiences of our own at orientation, something sparked us to want to go through Orientation multiple times. Call us crazy, but Orientation, (the training, the long nights; the everything) has shaped us into who we are as leaders and as college students.

We're a team. We're probably the most diverse group of people you'll ever meet even if we don't seem like it. We represent every major across the board, but we all have one thing in common, our love for Orientation. For some of us, this is the first time we're working as a team, and it was a long road, but we will always be a team. Through the ups and downs, the good and bad orientations, the great and awful nights, we are a team. Every one of us plays a role in the team, we are lost without each other. We walked into training as strangers, and left as a family.