About 180 incoming freshmen hit the campus Monday and Tuesday as the first two sessions of summer orientation began. Scheduling classes, learning the ins-and-outs of campus life and interacting with their future classmates can make orientation a long, tiresome experience for the freshmen.
Orientation can be equally as taxing for the orientation leaders who work behind the scenes to make sure the newcomers survive their first two days on campus.
Orientation leader Sarah Jewell said people would be shocked by the hours she works to guide the incoming freshmen.
"People see us having fun ... but they don't see the work," she said.
The leaders work from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and follow a timed-to-the-minute schedule. While working up to 15 hours a day and 40 hours a week, leaders often find themselves fighting exhaustion, orientation leader Christy Thompson said.
"Orientation naps are a regular occurrence," orientation leader Kasie Johnson said.
Leaders often nap when the freshmen are in lectures or in advising sessions, she said.
When they can't squeeze in a nap, fellow orientation leaders energize each other with loud chants they learned during training, Thompson said.
"When you're feeding off the energy of others ... you don't notice you're exhausted," Johnson said.
During their time working as orientation leaders, the students live in Noyer Complex and form family-like bonds with each other, Thompson said.
"It's like 'The Real World' living together," Jewell said.
Leaders also share the dorms with each new group of freshman, which sometimes requires them to be watchful of the freshmen during after hours.
Thompson said she once witnessed freshmen "mattress surfing" by riding mattresses from their rooms like surfboards while others pushed them down the hallways.
Leaders rarely deal with instances such as those, but disruptions often occur when friends or couples refuse to separate into different groups, John Bennett, assistant director of orientation, said.
Jewell said when difficulties arise, orientation leaders should be able to laugh at themselves.
"You can't expect things to go perfectly," she said. "Tomorrow is a new day, new program."
Leaders address frequently asked questions such as "Do Benny's wings really flap?" and "Where are the best parties?" orientation coordinator Megan Cowden said.
Leaders learn to respond to questions during a two-week training session preceding the first orientation sessions, Thompson said.
Jewell said an interesting fact she learned during training was North Quad used to be a library and students moved books out by forming a line and passed books from person to person.
Incoming freshmen Lucas Denny and Emily Parker said they got along well with the orientation leaders.
Four freshmen who sat at a table near the bowling alley of L.A. Pittenger's student center playing cards with Denny and Parker said relaxation time was their favorite part of orientation.
Cowden said the innocence and excitement she sees on the faces of freshmen she guides inspires her to be an orientation leader.
One of her most rewarding moments as orientation leader, Thompson said, came when she saw members of her group exchanging phone numbers to keep in touch when the school year began.
Johnson said she knows a group of girls who signed up to room together at orientation and still room together as juniors.
Orientation sessions continue until July 13, and applications for next year's orientation leaders will be available on Cardinal Viewjobs at the beginning of the Spring 2008 Semester.
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