Most freshmen do not know what to expect when they go to orientation. They are staying overnight at a strange place rooming with someone they don’t know. There are plenty of upsides and downsides to freshman orientation at The University of Connecticut that I will lay out here.
Throughout your orientation your orientation leaders will bring you to many different areas around campus. This is your first look at your new home, and it may help you to find landmarks that will stick out in your mind. So, when you are lost during the first week of class (because it happens to everyone), you may be able find your location thanks to the tour you got during the summer.
You will do a hell of a lot of walking during orientation. I got in almost 30,000 steps each day, and I didn’t even have my phone with me all the time. Make sure to wear sneakers or comfortable shoes unless you want blisters and sore feet for two days.
The first thing you do at orientation is check in, and they hand you a bag, a pen, and lots of information about campus including a map. This is only the beginning of the free things you will receive as a student at UCONN.
This is typical, but you will room with another student at orientation that is in your group (I assume because this is how it was for me). Some people become freshman year roommates with these people, and others may never talk to them again. It depends on your major and how you hit it off that first day. Some people become friends for life with these people they met at college orientation.
Other than UNIV and a required class you may have to take as a freshman (for me it was BIO/CHEM and Nursing) you will never find any of the classes you actually want, especially if you’re in one of the last sessions.
One of the first things you will learn at orientation is the Husky Chant. You will do this a dozen times during these two days, and a dozen times for every game you ever go to as a student. If the cheerleaders stop what they’re doing and join in during this chant you know its a husky tradition.
This is a student’s first taste of food from the dining hall. Then they’ll go home and savor the homemade food they will miss until their first trip home. It’s not that dining hall food sucks, but you get limited options each day, and some things just aren’t appetizing.But you’ll get a taste at how it is set up and what stations offer what kind of food.
For this one night you will be forced to sleep upon the crappiest mattress ever. Be prepared, this is the same mattress you will get when living on campus. You will most definitely invest in a mattress topper after that night, and it will be one of the best college dorm investments you make.
Be prepared to sit through some long lectures about safety and consent. In the moment you’ll find them uninteresting and irrelevant, but after being here a semester or two it will all fall into place. Just push through and take in that info.
When you leave after two days at UCONN you officially become a UCONN student when you get your HuskyOne Card, your ID. It’s an awesome feeling to know you can prove that you are a student at the University of Connecticut.
Lots of people find friends for life at orientation. I still talk to the people who were in my orientation group almost every day. The friends you make in college usually lead to friends for life. Remember: Students Today, Huskies (and friends) Forever.
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