Apply to be an Orientation Leader today

By Shannon Clark

Orientation leaders are needed! For those looking for an opportunity to be a leader and part of a great experience please apply today.

An orientation leader has the chance to get a jump start on getting to know the incoming freshmen. The leaders will attend summer orientation, fall move-in day, warrior orientation weekend and welcome back events. This opportunity allows student to develop leadership skills, while making future warriors comfortable with the new college experience.

When asked why he applied to become an orientation leader, Michael Morgan said, “I’m outgoing, so I felt like I would be a good person to help break the shy people out of their shell. I mean, you never know what opportunities are out there, and I wanted to make sure they had the chance to try new things, even if they were shy,”.

Students should apply for the position of an orientation leader for several reasons. The experience is not only fun but allows current students to strengthen their empathy skills. While some students come into the college experience with nothing but excitement, others are terrified. Becoming an OL provides an individual with the opportunity to make freshmen feel at ease in this somewhat frightening shift into adulthood. On the other hand, some students apply simply for the liveliness and fun or for the chance to fit into a leadership role. Whatever the reason is, Waldorf College invites all those interested in the position.

“It’s a lot of fun! Plus, the weekend is a good way to meet new students, and you get to impact the new people coming in to Waldorf,” Morgan said.

Anyone who has attended warrior orientation weekend knows there are many activities planned for the incoming students in advance.

“We got to go to Sky Zone and do the Warrior Olympics,” Morgan said. “For the olympics this year we did the skittle challenge where students are split into teams and must use straws to pick up skittles and place them in a bucket. Another couple of activities we had were the shoe race and the human knot. Finally, we had a game where the new students had to throw a ball backwards into a bucket held by another student on his or her head,”.

Although OLs have a very exciting job, individuals interested in signing up must possess some very specific personality traits.

“Students wanting to sign up should have good communication skills and be interested in helping new students adjust to the environment,” said Jason Ramaker. “While we are not looking specifically for people with experience, we would recommend the students have high energy and leadership skills. When it comes to major, we strive to get students from all departments to help increase the chances of connecting with all the new students. Whether the individual is a commuter or lives on campus, we’re happy to have the help-we just ask that the students be a good resource to incoming warriors.”

Each year, warrior orientation weekend is slightly different than the last; the games and trips change. Last year, the incoming freshmen were able to take a mystery trip to Sky Zone where they were all able to relax and have a blast with one another and the leaders. Therefore, this year’s activities are expected to differ as well.

“Although the trends from year to year stay about 85 percent the same, we do make changes accordingly from one year to the next,” said Ramaker. “Some of the sessions we have in place may change depending on how the previous school year went. If we feel there’s a subject we need to touch on, we’ll add it to the schedule. We try to keep some constants-such as meeting with your academic adviser and having one orientation for fall athletes and another for the rest of the students. But I think our biggest change this year will probably be the new name on the t-shirts-Waldorf University.”

Those looking to become an OL need to fill out both the Orientation Leader Application form and the Orientation Leader Reference form. If interested, one can click on this link to find the forms necessary for application: Waldorf Orientation Information Page. The applications for becoming an orientation leader are due Friday, Feb. 26 by 4 p.m., and must be submitted to Student Life in the Campus Information Center-please apply if interested!