Well it’s that time of year again, the time when one class graduates and another enters college life. As freshmen, college is an exciting time in life. It’s a chance to have a fresh start. To assist the new class, Seton Hill University (SHU) sponsors Setonian Days throughout the summer. These days are designed to help the freshmen set up classes, meet fellow freshmen and answer any questions they may have before the start of fall classes. They participate in numerous sessions throughout the day, such as a giant icebreaker, scheduling, information technology (I.T.) information and a session with a few of SHU’s residence life staff.
By Laura McCarthy
Contributor
Well it’s that time of year again, the time when one class graduates and another enters college life. As freshmen, college is an exciting time in life. It’s a chance to have a fresh start. To assist the new class, Seton Hill University (SHU) sponsors Setonian Days throughout the summer. These days are designed to help the freshmen set up classes, meet fellow freshmen and answer any questions they may have before the start of fall classes. They participate in numerous sessions throughout the day, such as a giant icebreaker, scheduling, information technology (I.T.) information and a session with a few of SHU’s residence life staff.
The icebreaker gives the new students a chance to get acquainted with their orientation leaders, returning students and other freshmen. The icebreaker is similar to the game show, Let’s Make a Deal. The orientation assistants have a list of items that they ask the freshmen to find in small teams. The difficult part of this icebreaker is that the items asked to be found are not items one would carry around with them on a daily basis, or items that are common. Such items include a two-dollar bill, a cell phone without a camera or an out of state driver’s license. The point of the ice breaker is to have the students talk with each other and work as a team. This also allows the students to learn more about each other. Kelly Komar, a freshman, said, “ I look forward to meeting new people. In high school I had a lot of the same friends, so this will be a new experience.”
The scheduling session is a time for the new students to sit down with faculty and discuss class schedules. These schedules usually include a lot of core classes and 100 level courses related to their majors. The I.T. session walks the new students through Griffin’s Lair, SHU’s intranet, their emails and other information related to technology.
The freshmen go through the final session with a few members of the residence life staff. At this time, the freshmen are told about the residence halls they will be living in and about community life in the halls. The staff also talks about internet safety, SHU’s alert system and commuter life for those students commuting from home.