After I experienced my New Student Orientation, I was intrigued by the job and I knew that I would apply once the opportunity came around. I had no idea that I would actually be chosen as an Orientation Leader for the summer of 2016.
Being an Orientation Leader is one of the most rewarding experiences of college thus far. Little did I know that during the summer after my first year of college, I would be spending my summer in Happy Valley and helping new students.
We’re about seven weeks through our orientation program right now and each day is different from the last. Each day keeps me and my coworkers on our toes. Some groups are different than the rest; some are more talkative than others, some are “too cool for school”, etc. But each group has a special place in my heart. Sometimes this job doesn't even seem like a job - it just feels like I'm having fun with new students while teaching them about our great university.
I love being an Orientation Leader because I am one of the first faces that new students see when they are officially students at Penn State. Even if a student is not in my small group, I still interact with them when I greet them and when I seat them for their first presentation. I am one of the first students they interact with at Penn State and I am the one offering them advice and insight about college life. It’s a very special moment when students ask you questions and are generally interested in your answer or when you’re giving a presentation for the twentieth time and students still offer you new answers to your old questions.
Another great thing is that I am able to speak to the parents. Some parents have interesting questions and it’s fun to come up with an answer for them. I am asked new and unusual questions by parents every day. I may not always have the answer for them but I try my best to answer their questions. One of my favorite shifts is the Parents Panel because that is when you sit up on stage with two other Orientation Leaders and answer parents’ questions. I love how attentive the parents are. Some even write down your answers in their little notebooks, which is incredible to watch. The parents are sometimes more interested than the students are. Showing parents that their students are in good hands is a worthwhile part of New Student Orientation.
I also get to break the ice with the new students. Some may be very shy and may not want to talk to me, but I love when I am able to break them out of their shell. Some students may not be talkative during the first presentation and I don’t really blame them. After dinner is when people really start to talk to each other. Dinner is our chance to relax for forty-five minutes and just talk about anything. Sometimes I’ll talk about sorority and fraternity recruitment, sometimes we’ll talk about classes, it all depends on the students and what interests them. When we come back from dinner and they listen to the next presentation, they are normally more interested and talkative and we can have more in-depth conversations. It is wonderful to see new students meeting each other. Some of the people they meet in Group Fifteen may be lifelong friends.
There are many reasons why I love being an Orientation Leader. The reasons listed above are just a few reasons why this job is so rewarding. There are tons more reasons why I love being an Orientation Leader but to truly understand how satisfying this job is, one must actually experience life as an Orientation Leader. If you’re even considering trying to help out new students, I recommend applying because this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never forget.
