8 Reasons Why College Orientation Matters

College can be a really difficult time for freshers, especially if your moving away from home. Luckily for all of you young new freshers, your college doesn’t just leave you to fend for yourself, hence college orientation. College orientation is a way for you to get to know your way around your new home for the next few years, but not everyone takes it seriously, and some tend to skip out on it altogether. But here are 8 reasons why college orientation matters.

1. Know your way around

College orientation is really important for you to attend, if for no other reason than to get to know your way around. Every college orientation usually has a tour around campus so that you can get an idea of where your lectures are going to be, where the library is, and most importantly, where the pub is. You’re going to make it much easier on yourself if you just attend your college orientation, rather than running round like a headless chicken and being late on your first day of lectures!

2. Get to know the staff

Your college staff and lecturers will usually use the college orientation as a time to introduce themselves, and get to know you a bit better. This is really important because it’s a chance for you to talk to them, get acquainted, and even discuss things such as the times you can visit them for support out of hours, and the type of support available to you. This is going to make it much easier on yourself in the long run, so that you’re not wasting time trying to track them down to ask for help.

3. Getting introduced to your course

Lecturers and staff also use college orientation as chance to giving you an initial briefing about what your course is going to entail throughout the year and exactly what is expected of you. If you skip orientation and miss this, you’re going to make it very hard on yourself as your course goes on and it seems like everyone else knows something you don’t!

4. Joining societies

College orientation is the time for you to join any groups and societies that you’re interested in. Colleges usually have a freshers fair, and this is your time to shop around and choose which society you want to join. Societies are a great way for you to get to meet new people of all ages and backgrounds and find people you have something in common with. Whether you’re into hockey, football or even knitting, there’s a society out there for everyone.

5. Set your parents mind at rest

College orientations are for parents just as much as they are for students. College orientations are a way to set your parents mind at rest that you’re going to be safe and cared for over the next few years. They get to have a look around the campus, see where you’re living and get to see how your college is going to care for you. Even if your parents don’t admit it to you, they’re going to be worried about you, so this is a great way to help them out as well as yourselves.

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6. Keeping yourself safe

College orientation is really important to keep yourself safe. You get to know the policies of the college, the do’s and don’ts, and you’ll be told about things your college offers that are exclusive to them. For example, shuttles and night buses to and from campus back to specific accommodations.

7. Settling in

If you’re someone who’s moving away from home to live at college, then college orientation is especially important for you. It’s a great way to make yourself feel more at home, the more confident you feel in your environment, the easier it’s going to be for you.

8. Making new friends

College orientation is a great way to meet people on your course who are in older years than you. They can let you know what the course is like and tips on surviving your first year! It’s also a great way to meet people outside of the people you’re going to be living with, as they may have different timetables to you and you’ll need friends who you can be within your spare time. It’s also great for if your a commuting student to meet people and make friends and you won’t have the security of being friends with your flatmates like others.