Dear Editor,
C. S. explains in his article “The Daily We,” the experiences that bring closeness in people that share a common identity. An experience that brings the knowledge of this is the recent freshman orientation that happened this past weekend. This brought closeness with all of the incoming students and warmth to be welcomed into the Dayton community.
“The Daily We,” applies to this experience as a tool to understand the past weekend as complete fun. Throughout, the beautiful sunny day of August 28, upperclassmen helped new students put away their belongings. As time went on before even entering my room, I met many new faces and met many new friends. All day the upperclassmen sold t-shirts, lemonade and drinks and other memorabilia in front of the three freshman dorms. Rudy’s Fly Buy, a student store was right in front of Marycrest selling memorabilia. The day was very much complete. By midday I was very much packed into the room. After meeting my roommate, a friend who I met over summer classes, I knew right away this was going to be great year. All day, the experience was fun and exciting.
Using the new student’s orientation as an example to “The Daily We,” I figured that it made the most sense to the closeness of people coming together as one. The first day will remain a memory in my mind. When I was apart of the orientation, the excitement grew, I felt happy, and the impact became a big part of my college experience.
The first thoughts that came across my mind when I entered my room was this is my home for the next nine months, I am going to be sharing the bathroom with my whole wing, I am independent, and I am going to not have people telling me, “You have this due when?” or “You have to go to class?” This decision is your own. Your parents are not with you. You don’t have your dad or mom looking over your shoulder.
With the first day of any core class there is a slight apprehension to what can be held within the semester ahead. The moment I stepped out of the classroom after the first day, I came to the realization this class was going to change me as a person. Through many readings, discussions, movies and personal opinion papers my values, knowledge, and future actions have both changed and strengthened. Three questions have been answered throughout the semester, Who am I? What do I know? and Based on what I know how should I act? Human behavior has enlightened me with issues that I can personally relate to and the effect has easily been the most beneficial compared to any other core class I have taken.
As a byproduct of the change in college culture, it will create a “friendlier” environment for first generation. Students need to feel safe rather than out of place. Additionally, prestigious institutions need to take initiative to create new programs that will make college a painless transition for first generation students by implementing new policies such as mentors or clubs. As many colleges and universities have not taken the initiative to help first-generation students, North Carolina State University is one of the few exceptions. As a fellow first generation college student at North Carolina State University, I have reaped many benefits from the different organizations they have around campus. In the Poole College of Management, I was assigned a professional mentor in my future line of work that made the transition into college a better experience for me. After listening to his forums, I was able to use the skills I had learnt from my parents and apply it to college and my study habits benefiting me in countless possibilities. Additionally, the sociology department at North Carolina State University has created a program that guides first-generations students throughout all four years of college making the transition as
Freshman learning communities (FLC) are programs where 15 to 30 first-year students register for several general-education courses that focus on a common theme (Jaffee, 2004). Although there are several different types of learning communities, they all are designed for the same purposes. One of the main purposes in implementing freshman learning communities is to assist the students in their transition to a new environment. This acclimation involves becoming better acquainted with the other students, faculty members, campus culture, and academic expectations. However, with freshman learning communities also come negative aspects. Both facets must be evaluated to determine if freshman learning communities are effective.
Community. This was the overwhelming impression I received while walking down McAlister Place on the Tulane University campus. It was palpable. Somehow, in the middle of the vibrant city of New Orleans, Tulane managed to create a tight-knit student body that resembled a family. Coming from a high school that encourages team work, whether in sports, class projects, or school clubs, I learned the importance of being a part of a community. After visiting Tulane, I realized how much I would benefit from being a part of this particular “family.” not to mention how inspiring and fun it would be!
Therefore, I was very dependent on my family and friends. Anytime someone new tried to talk to me, I could always count on at least one of my sisters, to be standing right by my side, answering any question they threw at me. One of the things that scared me the most about public school was the number of hours I would be away from my family, after all, they were my interpreters and protectors. After the first few weeks, when everything started to settle down, that’s when I realized “I can do this.” The whole communication and conversation was not as horrible as I imagined it to be. In fact, people were really quite pleasant to me, being the “new girl” and all. I started to make list, which may not seem to be a big deal, but it was a big step for me. Since, previously, I thought that list were just something mothers made for groceries, or the elderly made due their forgetfulness. I was wrong. I came to realize, that it was an independency thing, not an age or gender thing. They had so much responsibilities that they had to write them all down, in order to remember them
Suddenly, I recognized the building. Just last week, I had visited the exact same campus. My eyes explored the hall in front of me for the second time. It’s Early College High School, I realized. This school is extremely academically orientated, I recalled.
few ideas on the following subject. For many years, the meat packing industry of this
After attending my summer orientation, I started to adjust to the idea of college life a little bit more. I met new people, got to know a new area, and overall became more acquainted with the life I would be living for the next couple of years. Overall, orientation made college a reality for me.
Given the fact that these programs are designed to: assist with students’ adjustment to campus life and culture, set expectations for their impending college careers, inform them of academic standards, school policies & procedures, help with the academic & social transition, and help families understand their role in their student’s process (Robinson, Burns and Gaw, 1996; Upcraft and Farnsworth, 1984; Tinto, 1988; Upcraft, Gardner and Barefoot, 2004), Tinto (1988) advises that “orientation programs, for instance, are…popular forms of introduction to the life of college. But in most cases, they are very short-lived, if not highly symbolic in character, and do not provide for the sorts of extended contact needed for the establishment of community membership,”
My first year at Northeastern, I experienced all the feelings any typical college college freshman feels, anxious, out of place, and excited. As the year, progressed the anxiety and fish out of water feeling continued despite making friends and finding my classes intellectually stimulating and challenging. As I entered my sophomore year with all these feelings still prevalent, I joined the Resident Student Association due the persistent nagging from a friend who was in the organization. After joining and seeing how my fellow members were invested in making Northeastern a more engaged and welcoming environment for it’s residents, for the first time since taking that fateful tour at Admitted Students Day, I felt connected to my fellow students
I must’ve picked one of the best days to be on campus. After I parked my car, I started following the sidewalks. One sidewalk connected to another side walk, which lead me to the Ravine. Everything seemed to be going on! Live music, crowds, food, games, face painting, a tye-dye booth, and even an exercise class. Shortly after I got past all of the entertainment, I wondered down another sidewalk. That sidewalk led me to the Greek life. Today was Bid Day which meant all of the people who rushed for Greek, got to meet their new life with either their brothers or sisters! “Welcoming our
When you think of going to college, and coming in as a freshman, what do you picture? I can tell you all the crazy things I imagined. The first thing was, the parties and crazy trips that I would be able to experience out of state just like the movies showed. Well, like most cases, movies exaggerate what really doesn’t happen in school. For example, “High school Musical”, was a series where 90 percent of those things in the movie didn’t happen to any of us in high school. Something else I thought about was the adult feeling of living away from my mother. It is a lot different than living at home, you must learn how to share a living space with a stranger, or maybe not if you requested a roommate. I’m not going to say it was an easy transition to live with someone I’ve never met; but it teaches you to step out of your comfort zone a bit. And how to compromise with room arrangements and other rules you have to apply.
night football games, bus rides, and the close knit family of which freshmen become a part. I
What if everyone sat alone for lunch, each company did not interact with other businesses, and everyone lived a life of solitude? During college, learning to interact with others plays a large role in shaping the individual. College life provides many opportunities for a student to become involved with others. This socialization can result in a person gaining many benefits, including preparation for the work world. Social development helps a student to meet new people as well as making a person aware of the diversity on a college campus like Saint Peter’s. Human traits have evolved because of the influence that our surroundings exert upon us. The manner in which a person socializes in his or her environment determines how a person develops. In the college environment, the process of socialization turns students into adults.
I nervously opened the doors to my future, hoping for the best for myself. At first, I believed departing to class would be simple, but when the bell rang for the first time I had no idea what class room goes where and how busy the halls were going to be. Suddenly, the entire world around me scrambled to class, and on occasions bumping each other along the way; it was a widespread panic for most of the freshmen. Fortunately, I found some wonderful teachers to direct me to my rooms that I will spend the next year