<p>What was the orientation like and what was fun and boring about the orientation?? Oh and what are the main things you need to bring to orientation??</p>
<p>IMO, the orientation’s less fun than, like, one-day student visits. There’s a lot of down time. A lot of RA meetings, mentor, Peer Ambassador, etc. meetings to tell you about all the rules and do stupid icebreakers. For my school (Johns Hopkins), there were things like Movie Night, a Foam Party, a Luau-themed cookout, a Casino night. Different student groups had random events. There were really boring mandatory assemblies on Security, Sexual Violence, Alcohol, etc. We had a pep rally, and it was so bad it was kind of funny.</p>
<p>For me (because I’m a nerd), the best part was, like, the academic stuff. The assembly with the dean of my school, meetings with my advisors, major/department open houses, panels on things like research, academic success, etc. I also liked some of the speakers that came. There were some TEDx people, a comedian, a hypnotist, the guy who wrote The Other Wes Moore. </p>
<p>Ultimately, you don’t have to go to most events, but I didn’t know that and went to all of them. And I ended up meeting the people who are still my friends today (it’s only been a year, but still). You don’t have to bring anything to orientation, just yourself.</p>
<p>My opinion is very different from OnMyWay2013, so I think it differs greatly person to person. At my school (SUNY Albany), orientation was a 2 days-1 night thing over the summer where you got a temporary dorm room for the night, sat through many lectures about school expectations/policies, what’s rape, how different things work at the school, etc. and those were really boring, but there were also fun ice breakers and team building exercises/games, simple school cheers done frequently, etc. For me overall I didn’t like orientation, but it wasn’t because of orientation in and of itself; I loved the things the school put on and I loved meeting my soon-to-be classmates, but the others staying in my dorm area decided it was a good idea to stay up until 3/4 in the morning when we had breakfast and then more orientation from 8 am that morning… I was far too sleepy to be in a good mood.
Do you know what to expect from your school’s orientation? Is it one day or 2? Over the summer, or the week before classes start? That can greatly affect what you need to bring with you, Overnight over the summer means sleeping bag, change of clothes, pillow… While one day orientation over the summer or one just before classes, it would be more important to remember paper and pen and a conversation-starter article of clothing XD</p>
<p>I would say to go to as many fun events as possible…that is where you meet people! When you go to an mandatory sessions, go with people from your dorm or see if you see people you recognize.</p>