Students get to know SRU during orientation
SLIPPERY ROCK — While many college freshmen don't get their student IDs until they arrive on campus, most Slippery Rock University freshmen have theirs to show off to their peers even before they finish high school.
“We make them a member of our community before they graduate as seniors,” said Robert Lagnese, SRU orientation director.
“The sooner we get them to campus, the better connection we can make with them and their families.”
Incoming freshman Ciarra Robinson of Cranberry Township said Friday it was great to spend time on campus, but the downside is she still has to wait two months until the fall semester starts.
“I just want to get the show on the road and grow up,” Robinson said.
Robinson, a Seneca Valley High School graduate who will have an undecided major, was one of 136 students Friday to participate in a freshmen orientation program, the last of seven sessions held on campus.
SRU does three orientations in April and four in June to prepare incoming freshmen for life on campus. More than 1,500 students participated this year in the program, which is mandatory.
Since the students' parents also are invited to attend, an estimated 4,000 people visit the campus each year for these programs, Lagnese said.
The program is intended to prepare the students for what they will encounter on campus, in their classes and in residence halls, if they will be living on campus.
At orientation, students get their IDs, learn their class schedule for the first semester, find out their residence hall and roommate assignments, and meet with a faculty adviser.In the morning, the students are split into small groups and do a number of activities with an “orientation ambassador” — an SRU student who gives them tips for life on campus and helps the students to get to know one another.Sara Gould, an orientation graduate assistant, said, “They all come with a lot of the same anxieties about college. We encourage a lot of engagement and activity in the groups.”The 15 ambassadors do ice-breaker activities such as “speed dating,” where students get to know one another in quick succession or toss around a ball covered in personal questions.Meanwhile the parents learn about financial aid, health services and life in the residence halls.Tommy Baker, a sophomore from Connecticut who is one of the ambassadors this year, said he got a lot out of his orientation last year.“The ambassadors really helped me feel at home and helped my mom be at ease with sending me so far away from home. I'm seven hours away,” Baker said.Separating the students from their parents is an important part of the day, Baker said.“When they're together, the parents are the ones who talk more. I know when I was here my mom asked all the questions. When they split up, it's really the kids who get to open up and talk,” he said.For the June sessions, there was also an optional overnight stay in one of the residence halls. Those stays are a way for students to better familiarize themselves with campus life and the Slippery Rock community.Many of the students Friday said they aren't worried about the transition to college and living on their own, but rather they are excited to get started.Taylor Ellis of Washington, Pa., said she has already started making plans to do things during the fall semester with a group of people she met Thursday night at the overnight program.“I don't want to leave, I just want to stay here,” she said. “I have already made a bunch of cool friends.”Katie Ann of Fayetteville, N.C., said she has one big concern about her dramatic change in scenery.“I'm worried about the cold. I got a jacket yesterday,” she said. “I need to get snow shoes. I have rain boots, but I guess they aren't good enough for the cold.”Ann said she and her new group of friends have already made a to-do list for the year including going to a Pirates game and getting tattoos.
