Whether it was your high school adviser, parents or older siblings - every upperclassman remembers being told, "no one will hold your hand in college." No one will make sure you do your homework or make it to your 8 a.m. And no one except your roommate really cares if you do your laundry or make your bed.
While independence is good, it also becomes easy to feel like no one cares about you.
I will never forgetting anxiously staring at the computer hoping for a spot in one of the five classes I wanted to take during my first semester at Miami University. My face flushed and I felt the tears beginning to form when I saw a "C" marking closed in the box of every class where I wanted to click. Questions raced through my mind. Why had I picked such a big school? How would I ever figure out what to take instead? Why was everything closed - weren't they expecting us all to need these classes?
I knew I needed to grow up, but at that moment all I wanted was help. Someone to explain my options, tell me to take a deep breath and give me a little bit of individual attention, at a place where I felt so overwhelmed.
Well thanks to new changes to Miami's summer orientation, they may have accomplished just that.
First-year students attending summer orientation now have a group meeting with a divisional adviser on the first day of orientation and an individual appointment on their second day. They are introduced to the Miami Plan giving them a general understanding of the classes they need to take before meeting with an adviser who helps them design a schedule that meets their individual needs.
Many students enter college unsure about what they want their major to be. Admitting uncertainty in a room full of highly focused Farmer School of Business hopefuls or determined pre-Med science lovers can be difficult. But in a one on one meeting you may be willing to speak up and find the right variety of classes to help you find your passion. No student is the same, therefore no advising session should be.
These changes to summer orientation are a great way to give incoming Miami first-year students the personal assistance they need to succeed at a larger university. Summer orientation sets the tone for the beginning of one's Miami career, and meeting new people, spending your first night in a residence hall and playing corn hole in Met quad is only part of that experience. Finding a place where one feels comfortable to seek academic help when its needed is even more important. Students need to know their advisers are there for them and use them to their full potential.
The individual meetings can also help students who are still on waiting lists at other universities or not 100 percent certain about college decide Miami is the place for them.
Having students arrive early to their advising session to browse a miniature "Mega Fair" is a great way to get them interested in the various clubs that make Miami unique before the stress of classes and roommates makes them think they are too busy.
Orientation has also been updated for parents. Rather than them all sitting in Hall Auditorium getting information they may have already heard or don't feel they need, parents can prioritize and learn more on the subjects with which they are the least familiar. Parents will have more incentive to actually attend these sessions if they feel they really need the information.
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These updates to the first three days of a RedHawk's Miami experience can change the conversation during the ride home from worries about graduating on time or finding one's niche to excitement about the beginning of four (or five) amazing years ahead in the beautiful red brick buildings.
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