Incoming freshmen learn the ropes at orientation

It's a little after 8 on Monday morning. Groggy students slowly walk from McMahon Hall to the HUB, where they are greeted by ultra-cheery undergrads with thick purple binders inhand. The students file into the auditorium. In the next two days, these students will receive a crash course on life at the UW.

Welcome to New Student Orientation.

The UW's Office of New Student Programs, which organizes and staffs the orientations, estimates more 4,500 new UW freshmen (91 percent of the freshman class) will attend one of the University's 10 freshman sessions.

Overnight orientation sessions at the UW date back to the early 1970s, when the Department of Undergraduate Education created the Office of New Student Programs (NSP) to meet the needs of incoming students.

Meg Estep, assistant director of NSP, believes orientation is a great chance for students to get to know their peers and learn more about the UW.

"It's a chance to get students really jazzed," said Estep. "We give the new students an idea of the wealth of opportunities that are here."

During the orientation, undergraduate orientation leaders take the incoming freshmen through academic advising sessions, campus tours, registration, placement testing, and a series of seminars on campus life and UW programs. Students are free to attend whatever sessions they wish and can register for classes regardless of major, a new experience for many after the constricting schedules of high school.

"It's great to be on my own; it's my responsibility to do everything, and no one is going to hold my hand," said Katrin Olzak, an incoming freshman who will be commuting from her home in Kirkland in the fall.

Later, students choose specific workshops to attend based on their own interests. Financial aid, studying abroad and commuting in Seattle are just a few of the topics the workshops cover.

"The workshops help the students get their own perspective on the UW," said Jason Thorpe, a senior biology major and orientation student coordinator. "I think a lot of students don't realize these options are available."

According to Estep, another major goal of the orientation program is to demystify the college experience.

"We try to debunk some of the myths coming in, like that a major equals a career, or you are guaranteed a job with a certain major," she said.

For many students, orientation is their first experience with the inner workings of the UW. It's also their first chance to see the possible disadvantages of a attending large university.

Cassie Kosty, an incoming freshman from Kent, recently received her dorm assignment: a triple room in Lander Hall. Despite the possibility of cramped living quarters, Krosty chooses to look at the bright side.

"There are certain things that might not be good about it," she said. "But I'm not worried, there's also good things. You could meet two more people you really like."

Although most incoming freshmen participate in the standard two-day orientation, the University also offers special sessions for those students seeking a more involved program.

This past weekend, 22 incoming freshmen joined the orientation leaders for an "Outdoor Orientation" on Whidbey Island. The students spent two days hiking and exploring the island, spending Saturday night in shelters they built themselves before returning to Seattle to join the other incoming students for the Monday-Tuesday session.

"A lot of out-of-state students like to do that one, so that they are flying up here for four days instead of two," Estep said of the program.

NSP also organizes a session called "Adventures in Education," during which a group of incoming students travel through Puget Sound on a 101-foot wooden schooner and participate in a community-service project. Again, the emphasis is on greater social interaction.

Despite the services offered, NSP tries to keep the cost of the overnight orientations affordable. Freshmen pay $150 for the standard two-day orientation -- which includes program fees, lodging and five meals -- and more for the special sessions. According to Estep, that money goes mostly toward paying the staff, renting the rooms and feeding the students. The total cost is around the average for public universities. Costs for two-day programs can be as low as $53 at Oregon or as high as $315 at UCLA.

For the 19 undergraduate staffers, orientation is a chance to share their past experiences in order to make the new students' transition to the UW a smooth one.

"I like being able to tell them that 'I've gone through this too,' and it's not a big deal," said Thorpe.

Overall, Estep says the most important thing students need when they arrive at orientation is an open mind.

"I think students can get pieces of what we provide here elsewhere," she said, "but at this point, before they get set in a community or a certain niche on campus, it's good to show them the wider opportunities."