How to Conquer Freshman Orientation

With less than a month to go until freshman orientation, we here at Her Campus have tips to help you make the most of orientation!     

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Be friends with your SAINT.

A SAINT is an orientation leader. You will be in a group with 6-8 other students and each group will have a SAINT.  SAINTs are really awesome, cool, outgoing and knowledgeable on all things Siena. They will be your primary resource on things like where to find the best food on campus, what professors to take, the best places to study and how great SienaFest is (it is really great, BTW.) You’ll be spending a lot of time with them during orientation, so take the time to get to know them and be friendly with them.  This friendship can be vital freshman year, especially when things may get tough. Every SAINT has been in your shoes and can help you navigate any challenges Siena might throw at you.

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Embrace the icebreakers.

Yes, icebreakers are a little corny and require a bit of goofiness from its participants.  And yes, we all know how funny we look trying to untie a human knot or saying tongue twisters, but just embrace the corniness of it all. You will have a lot more fun and get to know a lot more people if you choose to participate and laugh through it. Standing around and pretending you’re too cool for icebreakers will not make for a good orientation experience.    

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Leave your door open!

When you are in your room throughout orientation, leave your door open. It’s a great way to invite your hallmates to hang out for a bit. Everyone in your hallway is new and everyone will be looking to get to know each other.

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Get to know your hallway.

Take some time to meet everyone in your hallway. As crazy as this sounds, you will be seeing each other almost every day! You will see each of your hallmates stressing over an upcoming project, trying to find the best face mask, or getting ready for a night out. During freshman year, one of my hallmates and I would always see each other in the hallway and have a marathon catch up every week after our 1:30 p.m class on Fridays.  While hallmates don’t have to be your best friend or even your friend group, they can provide awesome support and some great laughs.

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Take some time to unpack and arrange your room.

When there is down time in the orientation schedule make sure you actually unpack and settle in before classes start.  It will only get harder once the assignments start rolling in.

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Practice self-care.

Sleep. Hydrate. Make sure you’re eating right. Everything your mom has probably told you a hundred times in the car ride up to Siena. The orientation schedule is packed full of activities and you are going to get a little run down, so make sure you take care of yourself. Please, please, please do not have FOMO because you choose to go to sleep a little earlier than your friends.   

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Don’t worry about finding your forever friend or your friend group during orientation.  

While you will meet tons of people during orientation, don’t be hung up on finding your best friend or your friend group during orientation. My best friends at Siena were made after orientation, but that is not to say that you won’t meet great people or good friends.      

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Get to know the commuters, internationals and transfers! 

Orientation at Siena isn’t just for freshmen. There will be international students and transfers too. Don’t be afraid to get to know them as well.  

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Be Bold.

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. When one of the presenters need a volunteer, jump up and volunteer. Participate in everything and talk to everyone. This is the time to reinvent yourself and start fresh.

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Have Fun!

As cliché as this may sound, have fun! The SAINTs have planned a variety of awesome and super fun activities, so enjoy it!

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• first year
• freshman
• freshman orientation
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• orientation