DAY 1!

As an Orientation Leader at Virginia Tech, every day is Day 1. This is a mentality that we instill on the OLs to remind them that although it may be their second, third, or even twelfth session of Orientation, it is still the freshmen's DAY 1!

On Monday, we had our first session of freshmen come through Orientation. The OLs were anxious, nervous, excited, and very prepared. The Terminions had Office Duty as our morning duty on Monday and Tuesday, so we were able to sleep in a little bit before heading over to Squires. Although I know none of us "slept in"...we were ready to go!

The rest of the day went so well! We successfully had opening session with OL intros and all (unlike last year with the fire drill mishap). The OLs got their groups of freshmen, went outside for lunch and introductions, went on their first ever Life on Campus tour, attended the Campus Safety and Security session, met as a staff before heading to take a quick nap. Then we met at D2 for dinner, the OLs walked their groups back to Squires for the Academic Session, heard a presentation from Hokie Camp, went outside for Community of Hokies, and ended the night with some hilariously awesome skits! If that isn't a full day...I don't know what is!

And every day following continued to go through that same schedule. It takes a very special group of people to be Orientation Leaders. Doing the same thing every day for 3 weeks definitely does not appeal to everyone. Although it seems like the days may be repetitive, I have never heard of an OL complain. And that's because every day is different in its own way. Every day you have a new group of freshmen with new questions and personalities. So you adjust your day and really cater to them!

As an Orientation Assistant this summer, I love getting to step back and watch firsthand how quickly the OLs impact these freshmen's lives. I had my chance to interact with the Class of 2015 last year, and I wouldn't trade that experience for a THING! But I truly do love my job this year. I get to work with 5 other awesome OAs, a hilarious Office Staff, and 24 outstanding Orientation Leaders. OAs work more behind the scenes of Orientation. We attend parents sessions, work in the office, staff in the info booth, make sure the OLs are hitting all the spots of the tour on time, and a TON more.

I wish the days would go by slower...why is Week 1 over already?? At least we have 2 more weeks to go. Keep killin' it 2OL2!!