I'm about to tell you why being an orientation mentor was the best decision I've made in my last two years in college:

Being an orientation mentor is the BEST! Not only were we the loudest, happiest, most sleep-deprived human beings on the planet for an entire week but to 750 incoming first-year students, we were the reason they lost sleep (both nights, oops!) and the reason they finally felt like they belonged on campus.

Orientation Mentors are without a doubt the most crucial piece of a first-year students experience. From the start, we are the welcoming smiles they see, the happy voices they hear and the familiar faces they feel comfortable stopping in the hallways to ask questions to. We set the tone for what our campus is like, what is expected from students and how to go about accomplishing both of these things. We are the literal definition of a mentor.

Orientation Mentors are the happiest people alive. Okay, that may not be totally true 100% of the time but who can tell underneath that PERMA-SMILE?! The perma-smile is something we are taught to have during training- and let me tell you, sometimes it isn't always easy! (I think most of the OM's could attest to that one, right?!) There are times as an OM when you are faced with many challenges that test who you are. You are asked irrelevant questions, you are asked hard questions and sometimes you are down-right disrespected. But what do you do? You keep that perma-smile! Just like with anything in life, sometimes circumstances drag you down. Especially as an OM, the littlest things can really set you off when you are tired, hungry and your voice has already been gone for two days (and that's BEFORE orientation starts!) OM's may not be the happiest people alive all of the time but we have the strength to face our adversity and frustrations with a smile because that's the courageous and "mentorish" thing to do.

Orientation Mentors are fun! We love to laugh, sing, dance, joke around and sometimes laugh so hard that tears stream down our faces! Icebreakers are the way of life as far as we are concerned because they come with a prescription for endless laughs and timeless friendships. Whether it's seductively telling another OM that you love them, shooting them down with your fake guns or "zip-zap-zopping" it all the way to the next training session, icebreakers are always guaranteed to give you a laugh.

Orientation Mentors are leaders. We lead the first-year students onto this campus and we encourage them to partake in many things throughout orientation that will enhance their likelihood to make friendships, to have fun and to become okay with leaving their homes behind. We lead them to their sessions, we lead them to the caf (oops, I mean dining hall.. don't tell Elliott!), and we lead them up to their rooms for the first time carrying massive refrigerators, oversized T.V.'s and lots and lots of clothes. The leading begins the first day of training as we (the OM's) meet for the first time and plan out the week ahead yet it becomes a journey that never really ends. We lead by example on campus with the choices that we make every day. We show the first-year students (and other students as well) how to thrive as college students. We walk those hallways, on even our hardest days as individuals, with a smile on our face and with our heads up because we know that other individuals look to us for strength, guidance and courage. We don't give up; we face every challenge head on and meet adversity in the face because we know that you are watching us.

Orientation Mentors are the best friends you and I will ever have. Orientation Mentors will always be here to support you and will always be here to believe in you. If you are feeling down, they will be the shoulder you can cry on. If you are excited about a good grade or a new song that you just heard on the radio, these will be the people who will jump up and down with you. Best friends may even be an understatement from where I'm concerned... This group of orientation mentors that I worked with over the summer were more like family. After only spending a week with these individuals, I've come to feel a bond that I haven't found with anyone else in my entire life. These fifty individuals are so full of life, compassion and strength and their hearts are laced with more good than you nor I will ever be able to conceive. They are my support system, my team, and they are and will forever be my family. I will always have their backs and I know that they will always have mine. I believe in every one of you and I know you are all going to, and already have, made this world a better place just by existing in it. Becoming an orientation mentor was the best decision I have made since I began college and I recommend it to everyone who has the opportunity.