O-team stands for orientation team, the group of students that help guide first-years through their orientation process.
1. You get to go to campus early.
It seemed like my whole summer was a slow, long wait until I returned back to campus. Though I enjoyed seeing my family and working at the concert venue near my house, my summer was an uninteresting, never-ending bore. So, I jumped at the opportunity to return back to my action-packed campus and see my friends (and fellow O-Team leaders) again.
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2. You get to meet a ton of new people you never thought you would.
Unlike some other clubs and organizations on campus, O-Team is filled with a huge mix of people from various backgrounds. Typically, clubs and organizations have members that share common aspects of identity and common interests. However, with O-Team, the main thing that brings us together is our desire to help new students transition into college. Despite that, the O-Team members become a massive family within weeks.
3. You are pushed to your limits.
Make no mistake. While O-Team is a lot of fun, it is also a LOT of work. You will be exhausted 99% of the time. You’ll have to be like a duck: look calm and collected above the surface, but under the water, fight like hell to stay afloat. You’ll find yourself cheering and screaming at the top of your lungs at 7am when you only had a few hours of sleep the night before. You’ll have to answer ridiculous questions by parents and students who have no clue what is going on. You’ll be extremely annoyed and angry with everyone around you, but you’ll have to keep a kind smile perched on your face. And you're going to love it.
4. You learn to love icebreakers.
An important part of O-Team is helping new students get to know each other. This means participating in silly games that seem to have no point. And you will learn to love and embrace them in order to kill time and fill bouts of awkwardness.
5. You learn how to deal with difficult, immature people.
No matter what group you get, there will always be that one person (or more) who thinks they’re still in high school, or that they’re too cool to participate in orientation. It becomes increasingly frustrating. As a result, you learn how to set your peers straight with the perfect amount of sass and concern.
6. Your food is paid for.
Free food. Need I say more.
7. Being able to reflect on your mistakes from your first year.
After watching first-years struggle their way through their first week, I realized how much I had changed in one year. I have gone through a few rounds of friends, taken classes that I loved, taken classes that I hated, dealt with some less than favorable people (to put it lightly) and gotten lost a few times. Hopefully, I helped my orientation members enough so that they won't make the same mistakes I did (or if they do, they'll know how to get through it).
8. Becoming besties with the first years.
Now that you’ve guided your O-Team members through the rough waters of orientation, you’re basically best friends.
9. Gaining a new appreciation for your school and campus.
Some of your time at college may be spent protesting against administration and demanding that they hear your concerns. Orientation forces you to side with that administration and make students feel at home.
