Wabash College will welcome new students to campus Saturday for the start of a four-day orientation session.
During orientation, freshmen will be introduced to academic and college life ahead of the start of classes on Aug. 25. Representatives from each college office will be on hand to introduce themselves and explain their roles.
Students will be divided into small groups of 12-15 people and will be led by upperclassmen mentors. These orientation mentors will keep in contact with the students the entire first semester.
New students also will spend a lot of time with their academic advisor during orientation. They will learn about curriculum and build relationships with their advisors.
New students will explore Crawfordsville to become acquainted with the off-campus community. They will participate in community service projects to build connections. These activities were not conducted last year due to the pandemic.
“I think the relationships help with the students feeling like this is their new home away from home,” said Heather Thrush, Associate Dean for Student Engagement and orientation coordinator. “We make sure right off the bat that they see the faces and learn the names.”
Although incoming students will be vaccinated, some orientation events will be done virtually. For example, the library orientation will be conducted virtually because it can be done in an hour.
“It used to take eight hours over a two-day period to get everybody through it,” Thrush said.
New student orientation is common, however, Thrush believes the brotherhood that is formed is unique to the college.
“I think when you put a foot on Wabash’s campus, you get a different feeling than anywhere else you might go,” Thrush said.
Andrew Gonczarow, a senior living in Crawfordsville, is one of the orientation mentors. It will be his third time experiencing it. He aspired to become a mentor after his freshman year because his mentor helped him a lot.
“I want to make sure that there are people helping out the freshmen,” Gonczarow said.
He believes mentors are an important for freshmen students because they help ease the transition from high school to college.
“But the cool thing about it is it’s not just a position for those first four days, throughout the semester you are reaching out to these guys having conversations and seeing how things are going,” Gonczarow said.
Gonczarow is excited that orientation is getting back to normal. He hopes students can appreciate the Gentleman’s Rule.
“I am excited because there are a lot of important conversations about accountability and responsibility within the Gentleman’s Rule,” Gonczarow said.
He hopes the new students will enjoy and be optimistic about the college.
“I want to reach out to find every freshman every day for the fall,” he said. “Just talking to guys seeing how they are
doing if they need help supporting them.”
Wabash College President Dr. Scott Feller also is excited about the new students coming to the college. “I am looking forward to the Ringing in Ceremony this year, especially because this Ringing in Ceremony can also include the family members of the new students,” Feller said.
