Incoming Stevens students get a serious dose of the skills and connections they need to help transition to their new life at college, and they have a lot of fun in the process. By the conclusion of Orientation week, new students have not only become acquainted with Stevens but also have very likely cultivated the kind of friendships that last throughout their studies here and well beyond graduation. That is true for Orientation Leaders Zoe Elliott and Alyssa Antropow, who met as freshmen during Orientation activities last year, became fast friends, and returned this year as roommates and Orientation Leaders helping 615 new students get acquainted with each other and everything that Stevens has to offer.
Among the new freshmen was incoming biomedical engineering major Alexa Morales, who, like many incoming residents, got her first taste of student solidarity during Orientation check-in, her parents Ramona and Tony Morales (Center in photo) in tow. Zoe, Alyssa, and junior Richard Wismer assisted Alexa outside the Samuel C. Williams Library – and less than an hour before Alexa’s parents departed campus. Alexa said she looked forward to classes and the experience of living on her own away from home for the first time. She said she fell in love with Stevens during a college visit and her enrollment in the Exploring Career Options in Engineering & Science (ECOES) program at Stevens the summer before her senior year at Middeltown High School North. Her advice to those beginning their college search? “Start Early!” she said. Erika participated in Stevens’ Early Decision program and highly recommends this option to those whose first choice is Stevens. What was top of mind for her at the onset of her new life at Stevens? “The stress of unpacking but also excitement about making new friends,” she said.
Many new students got a head start to Orientation week by descending on campus a few days early for Pre-Orientation. Pre-Orientation included a number of trips destined for outdoor, city life, performing arts, and sports adventures beyond the borders of campus – and all centered on exploring exciting, new activities with peers. This year, all Pre-Orientation activities were filled to capacity. While some excursions were closer to campus – Hoboken and New York City – others went as far as the High Peaks Region of Adirondack State Park, New York, where students stayed one night at a base camp together and then broke off into smaller camping groups for two days to canoe, hike, mountain bike, or rock climb and returned to base camp for a final night with the larger group.
Derek Straub, senior mechanical engineering major and Orientation Leader for one of the canoe trips, said that team building skills and friendships are a primary focus of the activities. “Everyone’s much more quiet and reserved on the bus ride up there,” Derek said. “But by the end of the trip, there’s a lot of laughing and storytelling. It really shows how close friendships are formed during experiences like this. You can see how these help incoming students let go of some fears, try new things together, and they absolutely don’t regret it!” While Derek is an experienced explorer, he said the Outdoor Adventure Pre-Orientation activities are recreational and suitable for all.
Rick Lueng, senior chemical biology major and one of two Orientation Coordinators who spent the summer at Stevens planning the Orientation and Pre-Orientation programs this year, enjoyed making some changes to the already outstanding program, one of which included adding a community service activity to the list of options for the weekend trips culminating Orientation – a group of freshmen and their Orientation Leaders visited the Liberty Science Center to lead one of the museum’s educational workshops geared for younger children. “My experience as an Orientation Leader and Coordinator has been great,” Rick said. “I believe it’s extremely encouraging for the freshmen to see excited and enthusiastic upperclassmen to inspire them to want to get involved and hopefully break out of their shells.”
Third year literature and communications major Juliet Turalski was an Orientation Leader who helped facilitate the events on campus and, like Zoe and Alyssa, direct freshmen upon their arrival. She gave two thumbs up to the milkshakes at Coffeehouse and the cover band at another event. Juliet also raved about the Orientation Leader training and teambuilding activities this year, which included a trip to see Fuerza Bruta, what she called “one of the coolest shows in the city.” The Freshman Summer Games were also high on her list of Orientation highlights, especially the enthusiasm and spirit she and peer Orientation Leader Herman Saini got to model for their group.
“The activities and involvement of peer leaders is so important because it is a way for all of us – new students and the Orientation Leaders – to get out of our normal comfort zones and experience another side of ourselves that maybe we didn’t know we had in us,” Juliet said. “Networking and making connections is a valuable tool in life, and I believe we have a great opportunity right here to develop that skill. The Orientation program begins the journey of discovering ‘the new you’, and to have role models like the orientation leaders who make it fun and guide you through the process is encouraging. The whole experience makes you more open, which makes you enjoy life more. In my opinion, that’s the most important thing to remember!”
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