Dear Colonials,
We hope you’re excited as we are for Colonial Inauguration (CI), the first session is only a few days away! Between the skits and session, it’s an unforgettable two-days many of you have been eagerly waiting for. However, we know this marks your first step into college, and that welcomes a ton of emotions. You may have a lot of mixed feelings and assorted questions about becoming a Colonial and attending orientation. Believe us, we did too.
Let’s start with the basics, here is what you should bring to CI:
-A change of clothes
-A towel
-Personal toiletries (deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.)
-laptop/charger
-phone/charger
-All! Your! Questions!
-School spirit! Raise high!
At CI, it's important to remember that the hundreds of other students who will be experiencing orientation alongside you are doing so in completely different ways. Everyone will come in with their own expectations, goals, and schedules in mind. Therefore, don’t be afraid to choose your own adventure. For example, it may be comforting to follow a group of people you just sat with to a session the majority wants to attend, but you should make sure the choices you make reflect on what you want to get out of these fantastic two days. These sessions are designed to better your understanding of instrumental offices on campus, answer a variety of questions, and welcome you to the GW family, and how you do that is entirely up to you.
With so many new, interesting people around you, it might feel as though you need to meet as many people as possible; but that’s easier said than done. If you take that approach, you may be able to name a ton of people’s hometowns and intended majors by the end of the day. That’s great, and impressive, but not what CI, or college, is all about. Instead of defaulting to the simple conversations you expect to fall into, push yourself to ask more meaningful questions. Ask people what their typical saturday night is like; what excites them about college; which movie they could spend hours rewatching, etc. Step outside your comfort zone; this the place to do it.
On the other hand, CI is just the first two days of your 4-year college experience! It is not representative of what your ENTIRE college career will look like, so do not worry if you spent your time stressed or not at the peak of happiness, it is just a college orientation at the end of the day. However, you only have one orientation! So use your resources: message your CI leader post-CI if you still have questions, keep in contact with your new friends, and reach out to the Offices and Departments that you visited during CI for questions as well. With that being said, we can not wait to see you Colonials. Raise High!
Here are some quick tips to refer back to during your CI session:
-Hold on to your schedule!
-Follow us on social media (instagram, twitter, facebook) for updates throughout the session
-Facebook: GW Colonial Inauguration
-Twitter: @GWCI
-Instagram: @colonial.inauguration
-Sleep and eat! (registration for classes is early, so you want to be energized!)
-Put that phone down! (disconnect to connect)
-When in doubt, introduce yourself to someone new!
We are so excited to welcome you to campus and can’t wait to see what GWU has in store for you.
Raise High,
Melody Asadpour, Pedro Rojas, and Julia Lorditch
2018 Colonial Cabinet Members
