Spring Break
Summer orientation changes set tone for great Miami experience
Ann Koblenzer
Issue date: 6/19/09 Section: Editorials
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.
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.
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lackwe
Bill
posted 6/19/09 @ 12:41 PM EST
As a staff member and a parent of an incoming Freshman, I was impressed with Orientation last week. I would offer one suggestion (though none was sought from parents, which surprised me), the sessions held after dinner on the first day could be pushed into the morning of the second day. (Continued…)
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