Pro Tip: Pre-Orientation Programs
Today I thought I would share a little pro tip with our P’20 parents and families. This is about our Pre-Orientation camps.
Hopefully by now your Deac has seen the section of the New Students website on Pre-Orientation Programs. These are remarkable launch experiences that our students can participate in. These sessions begin a few days before official Move-In and they give students an opportunity to make friends and meet people in a smaller group setting and around a shared activity or interest.
These are also student-led programs, allowing our freshmen to meet upperclassmen as well as staff members from various offices within Campus Life as well as the Pro Humanitate Institute. Those connections can make for powerful mentoring opportunities down the road. It never hurts to have a trusted upperclassman or a staff member you can talk to in the first weeks of school if you need help or advice.
While the deadline for Wilderness to Wake program has passed, there are still six other options available: BUILD, Deacon Camp, SPARC, World Wide Wake, The Summit, and Marching Band. Applications for those programs, as well as their descriptions, are on the Pre-Orientation programs page.
Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s some testimonials from upperclassmen parents:
“I would highly recommend doing a Pre-Orientation Camp. It was fantastic, allowing my shy girl to acclimate, make friends, AND move-in early, enabling us to postpone our move-in until later in the day when the traffic had cleared.”
“Consider a preorientation program. My Deac did not, but surprised at how many did, and made fast friends.”
[PS – if you have not discovered the Advice for New Parents by Current Parents page, please check out what our been-there-done-that families have to say.]
So there is your pro tip for the day.