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New Student Orientation 2012

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Kean chapter.

On August 31, over 1,000 freshmen and transfer students were invited to the New Student Orientation (NSO) at Kean University to start their journey to further their education. They were provided with a small breakfast outside of the D’Angola Gymnasium before entering the building. Students needed tickets in order to get inside; however, those who didn’t print their tickets were provided with printers outside of the gym to do so. Students were also given Kean University Class of 2016 t-shirts. 

The students were brought inside and pumped up by music and dancing of NSO staff joined by Kean’s Cougar mascot. The freshmen were split up by their Transition to Kean (T2K) classes where they could get acquainted with their new classmates before the welcoming began.

A new group called Kean Xpedition introduced themselves to the new students. They asked students to follow them on twitter and the first four students to reply to them would be able to compete for the prize of an iPad or a MacBook. The students were narrowed down with a dribbling competition—guess that celebrity and a talent competition. Freshman Justin was the ultimate winner and chose the iPad. Sarah won second place and received the MacBook. 

Transfer students then played a game of “Jeopardy.” It consisted of what they learned in the welcoming ceremony, on campus, and in pamphlets. The transfer students included those who transferred from four year institutions, community colleges, the military and foreign countries. 

After the transfer students finished their game and the freshmen met with their T2K instructors and listened to a speech by Jonathan Sprinkles, it was time for lunch. Kean provided students with a delicious catered buffet style lunch. 

 

"Just a girl trying new things!"Brigit Bauma was born in South/Central New Jersey on a farm of all things! Now she always knew that she wasn't born for the farm life, but she gained some great experiences from growing up on one. She wouldn't trade it for the world. She graduated in the top 10 of her high school and recieved the NJSTARS scholarship to go to her community college and earn her Associates degree. Brigit at first went for Nursing, but through a hard semester, found that even though she enjoyed the people and helping others, it was not for her. Always a lover of the arts, Brigit tried out for the musical and got cast as a minor role, which was huge! This helped her find that she wanted to pursue a degree in the arts. Brigit graduated with her Associates in English and Theater. She also earned a 3.75 gpa which qualified her for the NJSTARSII scholarship which she can use to go to a 4 year public school in New Jersey and get her Bachelors degree. Because Brigit wishes to pursue an editing job for a publishing company or magazine, she decided to go to Kean which is close to the city and she can hop on a train right by her school! Brigit has lots of cougar pride and would love to share her love for the arts, fashion, boys, and college experience with everyone!
Francesca was born and raised in Sicily, and speaks Italian fluently. She migrated to the United States with her family when she was 11-years-old. Francesca did not speak English when she arrived in the U.S., but that did not stop her from continuing to be a good student. She always enjoyed learning and opening her mind to new ideas and concepts. Francesca's favorite quote is "Veni, Vidi, Vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered) by Julius Caesar. That quote doesn't only relate to Francesca migrating to the U.S., learning a new language and adapting to a new culture, but it also relates to her battle against cancer. She was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in 2005 and completed all of her treatments in 2006. She has been a cancer survivor since then. Francesca continues to live her life to the fullest and to achieve success. She is currently a Communications/Journalism student at Kean University, NJ. Prior attending Kean, she attended Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg, NJ, where she earned her Associate's Degree in both Communications and English. Francesca is passionate about writing and editing. She has written several news and feature articles for The Tower, Kean's student newspaper, and she is currently the Head Online Editor for The Tower. Francesca is also an intern at www.thealternativepress.com, where she covers events and meetings in Westfield, NJ. Her career goals include writing feature stories for The New York Times and eventually, launching her own magazine company. When she's not busy, Francesca loves to spend time with her family and her friends. She enjoys cooking and creating new recipes, watching movies with her boyfriend and simply relaxing. After the fall semester is over, she plans to launch her own blog about her two favorite topics: fashion and food. A little advice from Francesca: "You can do anything you set your mind to."