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Life

NODA Conference 2018

Casey Kalp
Juli Cehula
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St Vincent chapter.

On the weekend of March 16th, the new Orientation Leadership team set out to New Brunswick, New Jersey to take on our first NODA. After hearing everything about NODA from Deanna, Victoria, and Stephanie, I was slightly anxious, but also very excited for what the weekend had to offer. There was a lot for us to do in preparation during the week beforehand; from figuring out what education sessions we would be attending, to designing a banner, as well as creating a role call song to introduce SVC at the conference.

We arrived in the campus life office bright and early, most of us still half asleep with some form of caffeine in arms reach. After getting everything loaded in the car and having everyone situated, we left around 10:30 to begin on our six-hour long journey. However, even though we left with plenty of time to get there, we made several stops along the way. But, we made it just in time to check in for the conference.

The first night there, we were immediately introduced to the other colleges in attendance by sitting with them at dinner. Following dinner, we performed our role call song that we came up with on the trip there; partly in a Hoss’ restaurant and partly by FaceTiming between the two cars. I personally thought that our role call was one of the few unique one’s out of all the colleges since we make it a point to create a new one each year, while other colleges may reuse part of a role call for the year before. 

After everyone had done their role calls to represent their schools, we were thrown into Playfair. This is when the schools participated in various ice breakers to get to know each other better. The ice breakers were entertaining, however some of them we all thought were fairly odd. Even though it seemed like a short night we were all ready for bed until the day was over especially since we had to be up early the next day.

The following two days, Saturday and Sunday were filled with educational sessions that we broke off into and sat in on, diligently taking notes to bring new ideas and improvements to our orientation program here at SVC. Within just those two days, I feel that the Orientation leadership team has already become more like family to me. I can’t wait to help welcome the incoming freshman in the Fall of 2018. So, thanks for the memories NODA. Until next year! I can’t wait.

HCXO,

Casey

Casey Kalp

St Vincent

Hi! I'm Casey Kalp, I'm an Integrated Science major with a dual minor in Psychology and Children's Studies at Saint Vincent College. I am apart of Alpha Phi Omega, Alpha Lambda Delta, SVC Orientation Team, Activities Programming Board, and I am also a Fred Roger's Scholar. I will be entering my sophomore year in the Fall of 2017 and plan on graduating from Saint Vincent in the year 2020. After that I will attend to Physical Therapy School where I will reach my ultimate career goal of becoming a pediatric physical therapist. In my free time I enjoy singing, writing, reading, and hanging out with friends. 
Juli Cehula

St Vincent '18

Hello there! I am the Campus Correspondent of the Her Campus chapter at Saint Vincent College. As a senior psychology major, I've made the most of my time in undergrad and am excited for all the doors I have opening ahead of me. I can definitely thank Her Campus for giving me invaluable skills. As a future psychologist, I hope that my articles (and the chapter's) are able to make you feel empowered, motivate you to start a conversation, and be kind. As a hero of mine has said, "If you do not take control over your time and your life, other people will gobble it up. If you don't prioritize yourself, you constantly start falling lower and lower on your list."- Michelle Obama. Be the change you want to see in the world, and smile. Always smile!