NSO: the power to sway a student's perspective

When you enter high school, you might get one day of a tour, a schedule, and you're off into the depths of a few narrow hallways. When you enter college, however, you're placed on a campus where you don't know anyone and have absolutely no idea of what to expect or even where to start. That's where orientation comes in. If you were to ask a current student at Rutgers about their orientation, they will probably be able to give you a pretty decent description of it. New Student Orientation (NSO) is a two-day session that first-year students are given to test the waters of a college experience for the first time. For some, it can be a little awkward and very much out of their comfort zone, but for others, it can be an enlightening look into university life.


Over the summer, I ran a blog specifically aimed at tackling the basics about being a first-year Rutgers student. Many of my followers would leave comments on the blog saying how excited they were to come to Rutgers after attending their orientation. I was curious to know what they enjoyed so much about it, since I loved mine and knew as soon as it was over that I wanted to be an orientation leader (yeah I know, it was fate). Because I was writing tips and answering questions about basic student information, I never actually had the chance to ask any of them specifically what they enjoyed or did not like so much about their orientation session. So I was super excited when I was able to interview one of my close friends and fellow classmates, Mina about what he thought about his orientation experience.


It is potentially very difficult going into your first college program, overnight stay,and meet-and-greet with some of your fellow peers. Orientation is the first taste students get of college life, and many people are reluctant about how the experience will turn out. Mina is a first-year student from Cherry Hill, NJ, and he did not exactly have his heart set on an in-state school. Deciding on Rutgers wasn't a disappointment, but it was not what he had anticipated. When August rolled around, it was time for him to attend his orientation session. For Mina, orientation was not only his first look into the university besides a standard tour, but it was the last chance for his impression of Rutgers to change. However, he had high hopes of "meeting new people, having a good orientation leader, and not dying of heat exhaustion". Low and behold, Mina ended up loving everything about orientation. The best part for him was the fact that he "felt like a family" with his group and OL. His group was the ultimate NSO success story: outgoing, open, and awesome. Mina's OL made him feel right at home at the university, and he thought of her as more of a friend than the leader of his group. Thanks to all of the activities NSO had to offer, Mina's impression of Rutgers had changed and he felt more prepared and excited to move in. 


Fast-forward to February, and I asked Mina to reflect on his overall experience. I told him to think about some of the things about orientation that helped him out, and things he wished had been discussed during his two-day session. He enjoyed certain things such as the game show and activities that allowed his group to get to know each other. Mina also felt the campus tour was extremely useful, and it was something that stuck with him after he moved in. Most importantly, he was pleasantly surprised at how close he became with his OL and group in such a short period of time, and he felt less like a "first-year", and more like a regular Rutgers student. Alternatively, Mina immediately explained that he would have liked "information about basic stuff on campus" to be focused on more, such as how the libraries work, the bus system, and other essential knowledge. Despite this, however, Mina emphasized how much he loves Rutgers, and if not for a program like New Student Orientation, he might not have gotten the same impression before moving into the school. He was nervous and apprehensive, but he figured that as long as he was himself and went through the awkward motions of getting to know other people, that maybe it would turn out all right, or even better than that.

With or without the typo, this is NOT the case at Rutgers

Mina's and many other first-year students' experiences go to show that being an orientation leader is not just a summer job. We are essentially role models for students, a huge part of the first impression of a college experience, and we might even be the turning point in someone's opinion on the university. The key is to love what we do. If we, as OL's and OTL's, are genuinely passionate about the university and making first-years feel as comfortable as possible, it will show and they will hopefully be just as enthusiastic as we are. We hold an important position because we have the ability to sway a student's opinion of the university. It is also important to realize that we are not authority figures; we are friends, peers, and regular students just like them. So yeah, as a student, orientation might be awkward, a little nerve-wracking, and there might be some things you wish you had known before moving in, but if you come out of the experience even more excited than you felt going into it, you know you've made the right decision.