<p>When you come in for orientation you may be in for a little surprise at the entrance!!
One nice thing they started in my ds first year in 2008, is have the opening ceremony, if that’s what you want to call it, for the freshman in the same spot they’ll graduate from (as long as it doesn’t rain). It’s a really nice introduction to the school and they have all the kids sit together and the parents way in the back, LOL!! Also, all the kids take so much the first year and they realize it by the end of the year so more might come home in the future, but less goes back. Also, at the end of the year, they can store some things on campus or get a storage unit relatively cheap in Richmond. We’re moving my dd in on the 16th since she’s playing field hockey so that will be nice. The problem as I recall on move in day is the parking lots get full as do the stairs and elevators! And no, we haven’t received any mailing in a long time though I do agree with LasMa that it was fun to receive it. My dd too doesn’t check the heart either! Also, during the year they will run trips to Walmart also there’s Marsh right next to campus for toiletries etc.
I’ve bought and packed most of my dd things. The only thing we didn’t buy, but will do there is a carpet. Not sure how big the room is and a fridge. Her roommate is coming from Montana so isn’t bringing much. Good luck to all the new freshman and the parents!!</p>
<p>Thanks, utzybuzzy!</p>
<p>I mailed the last package out today, so that part of the Getting DS Ready for College project is done, at least. :)</p>
<p>And now for a very, very specific question from those of you who have BTDT: are the doors on the rooms the kind that shut automatically? The reason I ask is beause someone on the Move In Day Tips thread in the Parents Forum [suggested</a> bringing door stops](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12994108-post8.html]suggested”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12994108-post8.html). Sounds like a good idea, but only if the doors don’t stay open. (That’s the way it was at S1’s college [my Earlham S is S2], and it would have been handy to have door stops for that move-in.)</p>
<p>Fyi, I have been asking the appropriate Earlham people for answers to some of my questions, and they have been very helpful. But I think for this one, given that it is Saturday night, I can get an answer sooner from all you helpful Earlham parents!</p>
<p>Five more days until I get to see DS, who is on the Ontario Wilderness Program and totally unreachable. Can’t wait! (I wonder if subconsciously worrying about him – you know, up there with bears, et al. – is why I have been grinding my teeth in my sleep! I expect he’s having a wonderful time, but I am so looking forward to seeing him at Earlham on Thursday!)</p>
<p>I remember the door being big and heavy but I just can’t remember if it automatically swung shut. But that was Bundy Hall, and it might vary by building anyway. Door stops are small; I’d toss one into the suitcase – better to have it and not need it than vice versa.</p>
<p>BTW, we just got a mailing with info about Family Weekend (Sept 16-18), and I thought of you when I noticed this item on the Saturday schedule:</p>
<p>3:00 Wilderness Program Slideshow</p>
<p>We won’t be going (too far for a weekend trip :() but if you are, you’ll get to see what your DS has been up to all this time!</p>
<p>We are going to Family Weekend – it’s also DH’s 35th Reunion – so I am glad to hear about the Wilderness Program Slideshow! </p>
<p>Heading out tomorrow afternoon (actually today, since it’s after midnight). Can’t wait!</p>
<p>Thanks all, for the helpful advice and information!</p>
<p>Just a quick post from the Dayton Airport where we’re waiting for a flight home.</p>
<p>DS is in his element, and I am very happy and relieved. I love Earlham!</p>
<p>Awesome! Can’t wait to hear all about it!</p>
<p>I’ve been stressed out about DH’s getting S1, a rising Junior, to Baltimore for the start of classes on Monday. Normally that would be no big deal, but Hurricane Irene is making it a bit nerve-racking! </p>
<p>But in the meantime, I will post at least part of my Orientation 2011 report.</p>
<p>It was wonderful seeing S2 on Thursday after 3 1/2 weeks of no contact. He had a great time on the Wilderness Program, and said he hopes to lead one some day. I think that’s a pretty good endorsement!</p>
<p>It was really helpful being able to move in on Thursday, the day before Orientation. It took quite a while before S’s room was all set up, but he is happy with it, so I am happy.</p>
<p>On Friday morning, the official start of Orientation, DH and I drove down Earlham’s main drive and were greeted by a group of smiling, cheering EC students. Because S had spent the night in his dorm, though, he was not with us. But later in the day, after taking S for a Walmart run for some last-minute things, the welcome group was still there. Since it was early afternoon, there were fewer kids, but they were just as enthusiastic! The really fun thing: they motioned DS to roll down his window, and showered him with a huge double-handful of candies!</p>
<p>Another cool welcome thing was that they had used colored chalk to write the name of every freshman (in huge letters) on the sidewalk around The Heart. We of course have a photo of DS by his name!</p>
<p>The Orientation program was wonderful. Every single person who spoke struck me with his or her intelligence, warmth, humor, and total focus on the students.</p>
<p>The Welcoming Ceremony, outside on Chase Stage, was especially fun. Nancy Sinex, the Dean of Admissions, told the new students all about their class. (Link: [Class</a> of 2015: Who Are You?](<a href=“http://www.earlham.edu/video/class-2015-who-are-you]Class”>http://www.earlham.edu/video/class-2015-who-are-you)) I think she must have worked very hard to get in a reference to every single student. At one point she talked about the application essays, listing some of the various (and fun!) topics. She said that some of the kids wrote about people who inspired them, and listed a few specific examples, including “Stephen Young, Math Dude.” That was a reference to DS, who wrote an essay that I absolutely loved (okay, I know I’m biased, but I really did love it!) about his favorite math teacher. So that was fun to hear!</p>
<p>I was also impressed by the other speakers, including Sally Hutton, Richmond’s mayor, and of course David Dawson, the new EC President.</p>
<p>Okay, I will have a Part 2 of this report soon, but I need to get back to obsessively checking the internet for reports on Hurricane Irene!</p>
<p>I had forgotten about the chalked names on the Heart. 
</p>
<p>I’m SOOOOO glad that both you and DS got to experience the “welcome committee” at the front. We had no idea that was coming, and something about it just confirmed for me that D was in the right place. Such an “Earlham” thing to do!</p>
<p>On Friday evening, the new President, David Dawson, held a reception at his house. There was a receiving line, so David and his wife Ellen got to meet every freshman who came to the reception. On Monday night (after DH and I had left), there was a volleyball game with David and the new students that DS went to. DS was very impressed that David remembered his name! </p>
<p>Doug Bennett, the former EC President, used to have dinners throughout the school year with small groups of seniors. I’m not sure whether David Dawson will be doing that with the seniors, but I know he started a new tradition this year of having these dinners with each of the freshmen advising groups. Just by luck of the draw, DS’s group was the first to have one of those dinners! It was on Tuesday night, and DS said it was awesome.</p>
<p>DS went to a fairly small high school, and he and the principal would often chat when they just ran into each other in the hallways. DS always said that he wanted to go to a college where he knew and had a friendly relationship with the president, similar to the one he had with the principal at his HS. It appears that he has found that college!</p>
<p>More to come . . …</p>
<p>On Friday afternoon, the students met with their advisers. (These were group meetings; on Monday morning, each student met with his or her adviser individually.) After those meetings, the advisers also met with their advisees’ parents (again, a group meeting). I thought that was great. I have another son who is starting his junior year at a different college, and I know what his adviser looks like only because I can see his photo online!</p>
<p>I had actually been a bit concerned beforehand about DS’s adviser. DS had filled out a questionnaire over the summer that was to be used in assigning an adviser. He got notice of who that was mid-summer, and I looked her up on Earlham’s website. I was surprised, actually, because her areas of expertise did not intersect with DS’s areas of interest AT ALL. I worried that they might be a mismatch. I did not mention this concern to DS, but it was in the back of my mind.</p>
<p>Well, my helicopter-parent worries were for naught. His adviser is wonderful! It turns out that she is the one who makes all the adviser-advisee assignments, which means that she hand-picked her own advisees! I love knowing that DS was in her group because she personally chose him. I can also see the fit. DS has some learning issues that require accommodations, and his adviser is interested in working with students who have to deal with that kind of challenge. Plus, she was just warm, kind, funny, etc. – like so many other administration and faculty members at EC.</p>
<p>More still to come . . …</p>
<p>There were also programs for the new students that were interesting, inspiring, or just plain fun, and a great way for the freshmen to meet each other and to get a taste of what Earlham has to offer.</p>
<p>DH and I left on Saturday afternoon to fly back to NYC. After arriving home, we were happy to get a phone call from DS around 10 PM. He was amazed by a presentation he had just been to, and wanted to tell us about it and get us to check out the speaker’s website. The program was titled Change From Within, and the speaker was Jamie Utt, an Earlham '08 grad. It was an interactive presentation about diversity, and it had quite a strong effect on DS – he was very inspired by it. </p>
<p>When he was on the phone telling us about this presentation, we could hear a lot of cheering in the background. He said he was by the Heart, where a “Heart Warming Party” was starting. DS said he could see about a thousand of those glow wands. I wish I had a picture of that!</p>
<p>On Monday, the new students had their first convocation, with Jonah Lehrer, the author of their summer reading book, How We Decide. During the Q&A period, DS asked a question and got a great answer, so that was fun!</p>
<p>The last Orientation event, on Tuesday night, was a show by a mentalist, Christopher Carter. DS loved it. He even bought the dvd, so he can show it to us on Family Weekend.</p>
<p>There were more events, but those are some of the highlights that I heard about from DS. He has a week and a half of classes under his belt as of today, and so far he is still happy and thriving!</p>
<p>So that is why, based on the New Student Orientation (as experienced directly by DH and myself for a couple days, and then as reported to us by DS), that I can already say that I love Earlham!</p>
<p>~finis~</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your detailed report; it really took me back to 2 years ago.</p>
<p>So cool that David is meeting with the small groups of freshman. Although I hope he continues Doug’s tradition of meeting with seniors also, at least until the current students have graduated – otherwise they will never have had that special dinner with either president. But I can’t wait to meet David. I’ve already decided I’ll be going to Parent’s Weekend next year, so that’s definitely on the agenda.</p>
<p>Earlham has an uncanny knack for matching students with advisors; I don’t know how they do it, but they do. D loved M and so did we. She even arranged for D’s work study job to be in her departmental office; D was struggling emotionally and M wanted to be able to keep an eye on her. But it was a small thing that most impressed me as a parent: she gave us parents her personal cell phone number! </p>
<p>If your DS ever wants to switch advisors for any reason, they’re good about that too. Last year, D finally decided on a major and wanted to switch to S, a prof in that department. Only thing was, she was nervous to tell M. Well, S waited a couple of weeks and then apparently told M, because M said one day – with a smile – “I’ve heard that you want S to be your advisor. I think she’s a great choice, I’ve enjoyed having you, and here’s the form.” She made it so easy, and D was grateful for that. And she still enjoys seeing M every day at work.</p>
<p>It sounds like your DS is off to a flying start. And so are you as an Earlham parent!</p>