By Chris Brown

They’re bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, waiting to greet you as you cross the parking garage walkway. They’re eager and excited, bursting to tell you all about the college experience. They’re supportive and knowledgeable, buzzing to help you schedule your fall classes. They’re the 26 student Summer Orientation Staffers – or SOSers for short – who guide incoming freshmen through their first two days as new Louisville Cardinals.

This year, 12 returning staffers and 14 new recruits, led by Assistant Director of Admissions Danielle Bristow, will conduct nine two-day orientation sessions beginning in late May and lasting through the end of June.

The orientation sessions are designed to familiarize incoming freshmen with campus staff and resources, and make connections with faculty and students before classes begin.

But U of L’s summer orientation and its student staffers are arguably one of a kind. The days of boring welcome lectures and dreary campus introductions are a thing of the past.

At each orientation session, incoming freshmen, with sleeping bags and pillows in tote, check into Miller Hall, a first-year residence hall on the north side of Belknap campus, where they’ll later spend the night and get their first taste of dorm life.

At check-in, the fledgling freshmen receive an orientation packet and group assignment, dividing them first by study area – Arts and Sciences, University Honors Program, Speed School, School of Nursing, School of Music, and School of Business – and then into smaller groups of about 15 students per SOSer.

Each staff members leads his or her group through two information-filled days, packed with activities, from skits and scheduling to games and grub.

But before scheduling sessions, campus tours and talent contests begin, Bristow and her admissions office staff, with a little help from returning student staffers, must build the team of SOSers.

The application process starts in October, said staff member Jenna Rodgers, a senior Biology major.

The two dozen students selected to work with the summer orientation program each year are polled and pulled from a pool of about 100 applicants, Bristow explained.

According to Bristow, applicants are first interviewed in groups before some are called back for personal interviews. “We’re looking for people who perform well in the group and individual interview,” she said.

But it’s more than just interview skills that land an applicant a job as a SOSer. Admissions staff who selects the applicants, Bristow said, are looking for students with a “passion for the university.”

“We want people who really like being here,” she said. “[SOSers] really want to help U of L and really want to help others.”

Junior Ashley Howarth, who joined the staff this year, agreed.

“It takes someone with genuine concern for the well-being of the university,” she said. “[An SOSer] is looking out for others.”

Bristow said she tries to put together a diverse group of people.

“We want a really diverse team with different backgrounds and experiences,” she said.

After the interview and selection process, every SOSer must also enroll in a semester-long leadership and conflict resolution class, ECPY 355, Rodgers said.

“We learn about social structure, write lots of papers on diversity, learn how to work together as a group and [about] conflict resolution,” she said.

Despite the fact that SOSers often work from 6 a.m. to midnight and again from 8 a.m. to 3 or 4 p.m. during each session, summer staffers don’t let the long hours hinder their determination. Sophomore Joe Marshall, in his second year as a SOSer, said he is “dedicated to helping incoming freshmen.”

“You have to have a positive attitude toward the university, be energetic and outgoing and just be willing to jump right in,” Marshall said.

With the rewards, both tangible and not, that an SOSer receives, many are more than willing to jump right in and get their hands dirty. According to Rodgers, each staffer receives a cell phone for the summer, and “free clothes and stuff from the bookstore.” During their weeks of service, she said, SOSers are housed for free in Miller Hall on the north side of Belknap campus.

“Everyone gives you free stuff,” she said. “They want you to wear their clothes … and promote them.”

She said, however, that the job is more about the students than the stuff. “It’s great when a student is thanking you for helping with their schedule.”

Similarly, Marshall said he loves the look on new students’ faces when they see their fall schedule completed on the second day of orientation.

Rodgers, Marshall and other staff members hope to bolster interest in the SOS program, especially among students who want to make a difference at the university.

“Summer orientation seems to be one of the most exciting events the University of Louisville has,” Marshall said.

And after all, said Howarth, “Everyone always remembers their SOSer.”

Students interested in working as SOSers in the future can contact the Office of Admissions at 852-6531 for more information.

The summer orientation Web site also provides information about the program and is located at http://admissions.louisville.edu/orientation/summer.

 

Things to do after summer orientation

• Review the materials you collected during your orientation session.

• Contact any clubs or groups you are interested in joining. Find out when they will hold their first meetings of the school year.

• If you will be living on campus, make sure that you have everything you need for your dorm room. Contact the housing office if you have questions regarding items you can and cannot bring.

• Contact your roomate to decide who will bring things like microwaves, televisions and other larger items that you can share.

 

• Research career opportunities associated with different majors and study areas that interest you.