You know you've seen them. The plethora of wide-eyed people walking around Grounds clutching Mincer's bags, eagerly talking in large groups and staring at maps searching for Cabell Hall (pronounced, however, as though it rhymed with "rebel" rather than "drabble"). They are the ones you and your friend chuckle at quietly because they don't look like they quite fit in at U.Va. These people are not lost travelers basking in the excitement of stumbling upon Charlottesville, but rather they are the students comprising U.Va's class of 2007. Give them a month or so and you'll think they've been here all their lives. There's no denying the fact that summer orientation is operating full-throttle.
Before moving onto Grounds in late August, all incoming first years, as well as transfer students, are required to attend summer orientation.Orientation is a two-day event for incoming students, but for the more established group of 28 second through fourth-year students serving as Orientation Leaders, the process lasts for a month. Incoming students register online for the session of their choice, most of which fall during the month of July. International student orientation is the exception to this, with their session being held at the end of August, making travel arrangements more convenient.
Currently, the Office of the Dean of Students is in the midst of its fifth summer of orientation. According to Laurie Casteen, assistant director of orientation and new student programs, there was only fall orientation before the current system was implemented.
"What we added with summer orientation was advising with course registration," Casteen said. "We wanted to have the opportunity to provide academic advice to students in advance as well as provide a more organized acclimation to the University before the rush at the beginning of the year."
Many current students were enthusiastic about the environment that orientation provides.
"Orientation fills that sometimes awkward gap between the previous school, whether high school or another university for transfer students, and their new home," rising fourth-year College student and Senior Orientation Leader Elizabeth Argeris said. "Students often tell us how excited they are after orientation and how they can barely wait for Move-In Day."
The schedule for orientation parallels the goals of the program with class scheduling and registration-related activities taking up the majority of time. While at orientation students are able to go to course scheduling workshops with the orientation leaders, attend school-specific advising sessions as well as have one-on-one sessions with an academic advisor.
"Being able to talk to the orientation leaders one-on-one to get my questions answered, as well as just receiving advice from people with more experience who know what they are doing was definitely beneficial," rising first-year College student Kathleen O'Brien said.
Many in the incoming first-year class said they have found that orientation has been helpful in their transition to college life which they will be making in the fall, despite the mixed feelings that they may have had before coming to their respective sessions.
"I was excited but a little nervous at the same time about orientation," incoming first-year College student Jenna Scharf said. "After attending, I felt like I came out of it having met a lot of cool people that I will keep in touch with. I also felt a lot better after getting my scheduling out of the way."
Throughout the two-day session students are kept extremely busy with planned events to get them accustomed to University life in general, as well as the academic side of the University -- Placement exams, tours of Grounds, panel discussions on student life and a social event at the Aquatics and Fitness Center are all provide students with a chance to interact with their peers and get a feel for their class.
"The social thing at the AFC the first night was great. We shoved everyone into the hot tub and just had a good time getting to know each other," Scharf said."Also, meeting the girls on my floor at Hereford made it feel like we were already at college for the night."
Transfer students are also exposed to University life through orientation.In order to make the transition from their respective previous schools as smooth as possible, transfer students are grouped together in a "transfer-only" session.
"The transfer orientation session allowed me to realize just how many other transfers there were," rising third-year Engineering student Steve Jansen said."It was cool being able talk to everyone else about the experiences they had at their respective colleges and why they had transferred to U.Va."
Overall, many said orientation has been successful in providing students with a feel for U.Va. as well as pumping them up for what is to come in their next four years.
"I don't know exactly what I'm going to do when I get here, but I'm convinced I'll find something," O'Brien said."There are tons of things out there; I just have to find what interests me."
So, the next time you peg one of those all-to-easy to spot people meandering around Grounds, think twice before poking fun at them. We were all in their shoes at one point in time, and you never know
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