I love my job.

I have the best job in the entire world. Nothing brings me more satisfaction or joy than knowing I made a positive difference in someone else's life, and my role as orientation leader allows me to do just that. My responsibilities as an orientation leader include taking a group of timid, anxious strangers and transforming them into confident friends by the end of the day. I start each orientation session with a new group of students with totally different backgrounds and dynamics. My first goal is to help these students find common ground with each other, and I do so by leading group activities and discussions to get them to open up and make connections with each other. After that, I take my students on a tour to orient them with campus, present in workshops of multiple topics, and answer any questions they or their parents may have about making the transition to college. Throughout this process, I have been making a concentrated effort to learn each one of my student's names by heart as well as an interesting fact about them so I can maintain the connections we have made and help them find their place at SUU. I can't wait to see my students again at Flight School in August, which is a conference we host the week before classes start for first-year students. My hope is that they will use the resources and knowledge from orientation as they grow to become independent and take charge of their college experience. I am also hopeful that I have inspired them to take advantage of all the opportunity there is to get involved and make SUU their home away from home.

Name tag :)



Writing postcards to my students
 

Me and Thor

Some rowdy o-leaders and overnight orientation students
after a grueling Zumba class.

 

 

Introducing ourselves to first-year students and their guests.

Group ice-breaker activity

Taking my wonderful pre-nursing students on a campus tour :)

 

The o-leaders teaching the students the "Thunder Train,"
one of the many traditions at SUU.

 Of course my type of job requires lots & lots of constructive feedback, and the following comments I have received so far make all the hard work and long hours worth the time!

"      She was great! She was able to answer questions for me about the school, and help me build more confidence about my choice to attend SUU.

She was absolutely fantastic! I was impressed with all that she knew about the school. Genuinely friendly and felt like she cared about our experience.

She was so sweet and helpful and made me very excited to become part of the t-bird nation!

She didn't come off as a superior  . . . she was a student like us and treated us like friends. She was easy to talk to and very understanding.    "

I am also grateful for the incredible orientation staff that I get to work with. My boss Sheena, and our graduate intern Kol, have both made huge impressions on me and make me want to always improve my performance and ensure all incoming students feel valued and prepared. That being said, my fellow orientation leaders amaze me more and more every day. I feel that I learn so much from each of them, and I know there is still much yet to learn! Each one of them is so uniquely talented and bring so many wonderful qualities to the team. I honestly don't know what we would do without every single one of them, and my goal is to make sure that they all know how much I appreciate and look up to them. I have a favorite success quote by Oprah Winfrey that says, "Surround yourself only with people who are going to take you higher.” I can honestly say that the friends I have found through orientation take me higher and farther than I could go on my own. We have come so far since the beginning of the year; I can't wait to see how far we go!