I heard a presentation yesterday from a faculty member I very much admire, and one of the things they said was that it takes a full year to adjust to college. Sometimes even more. So it is not unusual to have first-year students (or even sophomores) still be in the period of adjustment where they are trying to find their niche.
A couple of families have asked me recently about ways for their students to find community on campus. One great way is to work through the Office of Student Engagement (OSE). Students can fill out an Interest Matcher form online, and then based off of their listed interests, personal needs, and other similarities, they will be matched with an Engagement Consultant (another student who has been trained to help others connect to campus life). The Engagement Consultant will reach out to the student in a reasonable and convenient time frame. From there, the two schedule a meeting and can talk in more detail about interests and options, ultimately helping the student find their place here at Wake.
I am told all first-year and sophomore students are sent the Student Union e-newsletter, which shows events and activities taking place. This is from this week: 2 4 20 student union enews. If your student (of any year) is not plugging in to Student Union events, urge them to consider it. At minimum, they should go see Joker since the Oscars are coming up this weekend 😉
Also learned that the Committee on Student Life approved bringing on one new Interfraternity Council (IFC) organization and one culturally based fraternal organization (CBFO). The organizations under consideration will come to campus later this spring to make their pitch as to why their chapter should be selected to come to Wake. OSE expects to announce selected organizations by the end of the academic year and welcome them to campus in 2020-2021. You can read more in the OSE blog here.
Tonight is the annual STEM Slam, one of the OPCD‘s signature events for students who are interested in working in the science, technology, engineering and math roles. This highly interactive and personal event allows students to hear pitches from representatives from organizations in those industries with the opportunity to network and build relationships that are highly beneficial to the job and internship search process. I don’t know if students can still sign up, but they can see details in Handshake.
