10 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Went To Orientation At UC Riverside

Are you excited for orientation at UC Riverside? The transition from high school to college can be scary. Honestly for me, I was just so scared and nervous that I would be alone for my first year of college. Everyone has told you that orientation is a place where they will provide you will all the information that you need to know before your first quarter of college. But it turns out, you don’t need to be nervous or scared at all! Here are 10 tips I wish I knew before attending Highlander’s orientation:

1. Do not lose or forget your name tag.

I made the mistake of leaving mine back in my dorm on day 2 of my orientation. The name tag is big thing during orientation because it identifies you as a student that’s part of this orientation group, it is your ticket to get food, and participate in any activities that school puts on during your orientation. Just treat your name tag as if your child that you need to take care of for two days while you are here.

2. You are to going to be walking around.

This may seem irrelevant but the big part about freshman orientation is showing you around school and walk all around campus. Just don’t wear sandals or anything that doesn’t make you uncomfortable because honestly speaking, I walked quite a bit then I was expecting. There was this girl in my orientation group who complained how her feet hurt and how her scandals broke while we were walking around. So be sure to wear proper shoes that you will feel comfortable in and wear appropriate clothing. Usually it’s going to be really hot during the summer so pack properly.

3. Night one is a lot of fun.

On the first day you will feel super exhausted because you will be walking around campus but the people at orientation always will put on fun events that would occur at the end of the night. They will always put on a dance party, games, karaoke and much more. They want to make you feel welcome and excited for you to come join us for the new year. This is an opportunity to make new friends and new friendship for the upcoming year.

4. Try to choose the earliest orientation date, so you have the most options when you make your freshman year class schedule.

The longer you wait to register for orientation the more incoming students have already planned out their schedule and register for classes ahead of time. The earlier you register the better you have to make your perfect schedule such as not having 8am or evening classes. So hopefully you sign up ahead of time and think about the types you might want to take over the summer before you come into orientation.

5. Your parents have their own separate orientation.

Your parents have an option of taking an orientation of the campus themselves separated from incoming freshmen. It could be either one of your parents or both but the two days that they are their for orientation they learn all about what their child will be during their career at UCR, and how expensive it could potentially turn out to be. They will learn how realistic it would be and the economic side of orientation of being a parent to a incoming broke college student. If your parents choose to have go to orientation they have to find another way to stay overnight because the dorms are not provided to them.

6. You don’t get to choose your roommates for orientation.

Once you get to orientation, they will hand you envelope with your name tag, room key and a lanyard that you can attach everything to. You will be standing in alphabetical order, so you never know someone who is in front of you or behind you could possibly be your roommate for two days during orientation. Don’t be afraid to talk to them and befriend them.

7. You’re going to get a lot of free stuff.

On the first day of orientation they provide you with a big bag full of information that you will collect throughout your time here. You will be collecting information about your major, extracurricular activity, and a lot of pens will be handed to you. You will receive free shirts, gears and you will end up with a lot of things by the time that you leave orientation.

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8. You aren’t bound to the people in your orientation group.

The people in your orientation group are just students who have similar majors or people who think they may change their major during orientation. Chances are, you might not even be friends with the people from orientation group. Usually there just there to have a conversation with so you won’t be alone during orientation. In my experience, I was friends with like three people from my group who I am close with but I made friends with many more people outside of my group and still have close friendship as I started my freshman year.

9. There’s no need to dress up.

While you are at orientation the notion that you have to wear all your cute clothes or fancy clothing should be put away. Instead bring something that’s more comfortable to wear because you will be walking around campus and sitting around all day with your group. That doesn’t mean you should be wearing your pajama shorts or slippers around school but instead wear something that is more simple and casual that would suit your personality and that would leave a good impression on to people when they see you.

10. Have fun!

The big point about orientation is to learn all about the resource that is out there for you such as academic information, sports, gym and much more but they are all located on campus and online for a reason. Once you are done with all the activities during orientation, grabs some friends and explore your future home. Find areas where you could meet up and eat. Study the place you are going to call home for the next four years.