Based on the title of this article, I think you guys know what I'm going to talk about. I have recently been hired as an Orientation Leader for my college, SUNY Oneonta, and I want to share my experience with you guys. Now I know that most movies and television shows depict Orientation Leaders as peppy and over energetic people but that isn't always the case. I mean yeah, we are very energetic people but we aren't "in your face." We are there to make new students feel welcome.
We actually learn some very valuable tools to help new students feel included into the college community. On my first day of training, I learned about some of the different resources we offer at our school. I'm going, to be honest with you guys. I had no idea that my school had so many valuable resources but I'm glad that I know them now because I can help my Freshman students learn about what is offered to them. Everything they are interested in or need help with is right at their fingertips and I hope I can provide them with all the resources that I can.
Another thing that I have learned from Orientation Leader training is how to make my students feel more open to sharing how they are feeling about moving into a new environment. It can be hard to adapt to a new environment especially when you've never lived away from home before. Some students can get homesick or feel like they won't fit into the college community. Other students may already feel excited about starting college but it's our job to make them feel welcome. The most important thing that I have been taught is to be open. I should be a leader that is approachable and down to earth. I need to show them that I was exactly where they were at one point in time and I know it can be nerve-wracking.
When you are trusted with the responsibility of being an Orientation Leader, you are expected to present yourself in a professional manner because essentially we are the face of SUNY Oneonta. We are the first people that the students will interact with. So it's our responsibility to make sure that they feel comfortable and have a fun orientation. I feel like I have done my job right when my students can come back and say that they really felt good about starting school and that we made it fun for them.
So as I venture on as an Orientation Leader, I want you guys to know that college is not always what you see on television. We are not the type of Orientation Leaders to get all up in your face and make you feel like babies because that's not what we do. We are there to help incoming Freshmen adapt to a new environment and make sure they feel included. Being peppy and in your face, all the time will not make students want to open up to us. So in conclusion, don't believe everything you see on television about Orientation Leaders, especially not what you see in the first couple minutes of Disney Pixar's Monster's University. It's totally different! Just try to be open about what we do.
