by Kassidy Hart–The orientation staff of students has been renamed from Student Ambassadors to the WOO Crew. WOO stands for Welcome and Orientation Organizer. When the abbreviation was brought up to the orientation faculty committee by Vice President of University Engagement Erin Edlund, the team knew it had a winner.
“We wanted something that brought good energy and excitement and would draw people in to wanting to be a part of it, but at the same time made sense with what the position was,” Enrollment and Digital Creative Coordinator Tasha Goodvin said.
“We want to make orientation more interactive. Orientation can be really intimidating for incoming students, so we are looking at ways to continue to ease the transition. We are working to involve student groups, letting [them] host fun activities that students can pick from and attend,” Goodvin said. “After they move in, we are hoping to have a big welcome and parent send off for the new students and their families to [attend] with food, music, and a photobooth.”
Though there are plenty of anticipated changes, the Alumni Office is focused on building the already-formed plans for orientation.
“We had a good foundation to go off of, and as a team, we really wanted to continue to generate excitement and show the incoming class they have this whole campus here for them and [will be] rooting for them over the next four years,” Goodvin said.
There are a number of students who participated in years past as Student Ambassadors who are again serving as WOO Crew members. Sophomore Sarah Severes has been selected as one of the four team leads, which is another role addition to this year’s orientation team.
“The point of being a team lead is to help relieve some stress for our supervisors,” Severes said.
Severes was part of the welcome committee last year, where the students had to combat the difficulties COVID-19 presented.
“Last year was my first year being an OSA. We had to take a lot of precautions and be careful with our distance, keeping our mask on, and making sure to keep the MSide Community safe,” Severes said. “It was still super fun last year! We were still able to have small groups. We discussed all different kinds of topics such as meal plans, classes, and the ‘unspoken rules of college,’ such as you do not have to raise your hand to use the bathroom and your education is in your own hands.”
Though the students of last year were faced with obstacles to overcome, similar to the ones they may face this year, the most important thing to remember is that the event is crucial to get new students comfortable with Morningside.
“[At my orientation,] I really enjoyed getting shown around campus, [which] made it a lot easier to get situated,” freshman Caleb Watson said. “This whole celebration is important because it is a big deal. Going to college is exciting and nerve wrecking. Having people help you and get situated really takes off a lot of the stress of moving in and makes it easier to open up and make friends.”
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