Alright! We’ve been following up with our orientations and have brought you a snapshot of some of what happens at this event! Those who have not had orientation yet but will soon this summer, take some time to read the last blog I did on orientation for a thorough description. Then, come back to this blog to enjoy some pictures!
This year, we’ve got some of the most enthusiastic and amicable orientation leaders ever! They have spent a lot of time to prepare for you to get acquainted with others and especially the campus. Orientation is designed for you to get to know others. It is better to do some adventuring and meet-and -greet stuff now because during the actual school semester, things will be very busy.
Nevertheless, when you attend your orientation, relax! Nervousness is common, but make sure to leave room for fun and socializing!
The transition from high school to college may be a great leap forward in your life, especially if you are a first-generation student. I know for me, the thought of going though this experience was quite exciting, but scary doing this all alone. I knew no one coming into Loyola University and did not know what to expect during my Orientation; quite visibly, I was anxious. But do not fret anymore- this time, you get to hear my experience and hopefully you will feel more ready for your upcoming orientation setting!
One thing I really appreciate about LUC orientation is that you get put in with a group of about 10 people and you stick with these people throughout the whole orientation session. There will be tons of icebreakers to help you get to know each other and 9/10, you will fine some sort of similarity among each other. Naturally, friendships will form–trust me. Groups are randomly formed and you get assigned to them, so there’s a HIGH chance no one in your group will know another person before orientation starts; with that being said, all of you guys will be on the same page of not knowing anyone or anything. In my own orientation, I met John-Michael, a great guy who had similar backgrounds as I did. For the rest of my orientation, it became more enjoyable to do activities with a buddy and therefore my experience became more enjoyable.
At orientation, you will get to explore most of the buildings on campus and meet your first-and-second-year counselor face to face. I knew I never saw my counselor in person before, so this became the perfect opportunity to do so. Plus, your counselor will be your UNIV 101 teacher for the fall semester! In your one-on-one meeting with your counselor, you will go over what classes you want to take and other questions you may have before you register for classes. Class registration happens DURING orientation, and luckily, your orientation leader and counselor will be present with you if you may have difficulties in the process.
All food is covered by the school- Woohoo! You will get to go into a dining hall and try out all the foods that is offered. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, there is a variety of foods to eat and tons of options if you may be vegetarian or vegan. Best of all, the dining hall is a buffet style, meaning that once you enter the place, feel free to eat as MUCH food as your stomach desires! Again, you’ll sit with your orientation group of 10(ish) people, so enjoy your food with the comfort of familiar faces!
Since this is a 2-day event, obviously you will get to dorm in one of Loyola’s dorm rooms. See what staying overnight in a college is like, before the actual semester starts with all of the activity in the halls, streets, and campus. Hang with your new friends in the common rooms, play games, talk to each other, or do some more exploring of campus on your own with a couple of friends.
All in all, this orientation is mandatory, and it is quite essential for your transition from high school to college, very smooth and comfortable. Initially I thought it was scary, but very soon, things got better and I got to know Loyola in a totally new light. My advice to you would be to keep an open-mind and get open to others. Take opportunity of these event because now is the time to make friends, because everyone knows no one. For me, knowing John-Michael was one step to knowing others. By the first week of school, the network of friends grew and grew. Still to this day, 3 years later, we are still very close friends looking out for each other.
I hope this helped you, even a little bit, understand what orientation is typically like. Hopefully, if you are anxious or nervous about this, this helps you mentally prepare for what is to come when you have your orientation.
I remember when I got my acceptance letter from Loyola in the mail. It was during my winter break in December when I received a huge envelope from the university. It was thrilling because it was implied that getting an impressive and fancy envelope from Loyola meant getting accepted; there was no need to open the mail and read the letter to see whether or not I got to be a Rambler.
The anxiety of applying and waiting for a decision from colleges is over and now, you can finally breathe (a little better- the tedious part is over and complete). So you got admitted into Loyola, what next?
Of course, if you do consider on making the final decision to attend Loyola University Chicago (Decision Day is May 1st, 2017), you should be on the look out for emails and physical mail coming from us. There will be a series of administrative things to get yourself enrolled here, which will be quite simple and easy. Financially, the Financial Office will look on your FAFSA that you may have done, take into account any scholarships you have been awarded, and other contributing factors to determine what you owe the university. Personally, I believe this is important because money is earned through time and hard work; it does not grow on trees, as we all know. Keep track of certain dates and remember that there is a commitment fee to officially put your name into Loyola’s list of people enrolled.
Next step is to sort out living arrangements. Soon, LOCUS (your online Loyola Hub for everything) will be available to you to figure out which dorm buildings are available, what accommodations each building has (laundry room, living room, kitchen, etc…), and more. My best advice to those who plan to live on campus is to attend a tour and view the dorm rooms in-person to have a better idea. To those who live within good distance from Loyola and plan to commute instead, there is an “opt-out” option in LOCUS. Commuters, understandably have less to when figuring out living arrangements on LOCUS.
I know this may be a little bit far in advance, but a requirement for ALL freshman is to attend orientation. There are a variety of dates during the summer that you can pick, so it may be best to look at them and plan for the summer to make sure your vacation to wherever does not interfere with the orientation date session you have chosen. My advice would be to choose the earlier dates for a couple of reasons. (1) You get it done and out of the way. (2) You register for classes earlier than those who have orientation later in the summer (which means you may get the classes at the time you want and teacher that you need before they get filled up and closed). (3) It is not that hot in late May or in June… weather is quite nice, especially with the lake breeze and blue skies.
If possible, get acquainted with the campus and/or even meet some staff or students. The more you get in touch with LUC, the more comfortable you will be when it comes time to being an actual student. You will make the transition to college seamless if you start going around campus and know some people already.
Most importantly, I recommend you conclude your senior year of high school on a good note. Even though you got accepted to LUC, we still ask that you still do well in your studies and we will check to see if you ended this semester off on a good academic note. At the same time, have fun and enjoy your time as well. Create those memories because obviously, high school won’t be like college and college won’t be like high school. 🙂
If you have more questions, feel free to comment below or contact me at clam3@luc.edu.
Farewell: A Final Reflection of My First Year of College
When I was looking for schools, I thought about my future, what kind of person I would become, how I could possibly fit in with everyone, and if the prestige and academic standards were too high for me. Nonetheless, I went with my guts and chose to attend Loyola. Still to this day, I have no regrets about that decision.
From the very beginning, every new student was required to go to an 2-day and 1-overnight stay at Loyola. Even then, I was incredibly nervous. I knew nobody and my social skills weren’t so good. Plus, I have never been in a dorm before nor have I slept elsewhere besides my own room. Anyways, on the first day of orientation, I was put into a small group of 10 other students and to this day, I still know 5 of them very well. We are close friends! That evening, night, and next day flew by so quickly because I had people to talk to which made everything else much more bearable for me.
When school started, I had to adjust to extended school hours (some classes ended at 3:46PM and others at 5:30pm for me). With that, I had to learn how to use my free time wisely. Never in my life did I have so much independence. I used my free time for getting school work completed, visiting teachers during their office hours, going to mass, eating outside in the quad, and more.
Commuting! Especially for commuters, things can and will get rough and challenging. Weather conditions can get in the way (mostly in the winter) and because you live at home, there are home obligations in addition to the academic obligations. If you would like to know more about this, I have two blog posts on my commuting experiences on my page.
From January onward, I hit a personal barrier. A family situation had come up and it affected my academic performance and physical and emotional state. Despite that, I sought out help through my academic advisor, psychologist from the Wellness Center, Dean of Students, and Financial Aid Director. I am happy to say that things are slowly getting better for me and hopefully by the start of fall semester, I will be completely up on my feet and ready to start anew.
Throughout the school year, I was a part of the American Medical Student Association, Vietnamese American Student Association, and Off-Campus Commuter Life group. It helped get me active within the Loyola community and along the way, I made more friends! I plan to continue joining all these groups next school year in addition to A.C.E., a group that pertains to students of low-income, first-generation, and more.
As I conclude this final blog post of this school year, I want to thank all of you readers for wanting to read my blog posts and go through my Loyola journey. Also, hopefully you had the opportunity to learn more about me, my hobbies and interests, and more. It was a privilege to blog and represent Loyola and I hope I have the wonderful opportunity to resume Rambler’s Pie: A Fresh Slice of Loyola starting next semester.
All the best,
Chris
(being eaten by a dinosaur at Loyola’s Scholars Night at the Field Museum)
