Fresh(man) impressions
By: Danielle Novy
While New Student Orientation is as much a staple of becoming a Red Raider as enrolling in classes or selecting a degree plan, some Texas Tech students leave orientation feeling unprepared for the journey ahead.
As the fall semester begins to unravel, some freshmen are voicing their concerns about being thrown into their college careers with lingering questions and uncertainties about where to find the answers.
Kelsey Johnson, a first-year finance major from Ponder, Texas, said he did not feel New Student Orientation prepared him for all facets of life at Tech.
“I didn’t find it that helpful,” he said. “You could go on a tour, but they didn’t tell us a lot of details. I still got kind of lost on my first day.”
Johnson said he believes improving future orientations could be as easy as simply offering students more details about where everything is located on campus as well as introducing new students to their community advisers.
Conversely, some Tech students said they felt they gained plenty of helpful advice during orientation. Clayton Dias, a freshman accounting major from Plano, said he all of his questions were answered during his visit to Tech’s campus.
“I felt it was helpful because they told us what was going to happen,” he said. “There were a lot of good activities and I had a meeting with the counselors.
Sarah Maney, assistant director for Tech’s New Student Orientation, said the incoming freshmen that attend orientation are given ample opportunity to seek advice from a vast array of officials and students designated to aid them.
“Our orientation is about two days long, and during that time students meet with academic advisers and register for classes while there are still here,” she said. “There is also a student organization fair -- several different departments are always represented there.”
Maney said freshmen are additionally given the opportunity to take part in 30-minute information sessions in which students can hear speakers from Tech’s Student Counseling Center who shell out advice about who students should turn to if they find themselves struggling with any aspect of college life.
“I feel they have the opportunity to get their questions answers,” Maney said of incoming Tech freshmen.
The Double T Crew, a team of 20 upperclassmen hired specifically to help new students, is standing by during the entire breadth of orientation to offer help and answer questions from the student perspective, Maney said.
In order to assure that the orientation program is as helpful and constructive as possible, Maney said she reviews the results of surveys students take regarding their orientation experience.
“We are always changing and always tweaking the new student orientation, just trying to make things better,” she said. “I don’t know right now what the upcoming changes will be, but since we sent the survey out, we‘ll review them soon.”
Despite all of the precautions taken at orientation to make sure new students feel comfortable at Tech, Maney did acknowledge that some students can slip through the cracks. She said if someone feels lost of confused, simply asking questions and actively seeking help should be the immediate course of action.
“First of all, just say something,” she said. “There are people everywhere that want to help you.”