Welcome Home: What to expect during move-in and Fall Orientation

Hi, my name is Sally. I am a rising senior from Orlando, Florida and I am double majoring in applied math and IT. Thinking back to my arrival at Furman, I had no idea what to expect from Fall Orientation. It can be intimidating walking in and not knowing what to expect. I have been in the shoes of a new student walking in but have also had the pleasure of serving as an Orientation leader for the past three years. I hope to give you an insight of what to expect from move-in day and the days of orientation.

It all starts on move-in day, bright and early. You will come with all your stuff and pull up to your building. There will be Orientation leaders and housing staff around to help you unpack your stuff from the car and bring it into your room. You won’t have to do all the heavy lifting that day! You will have a few hours to yourself to unpack and relax because the events start that evening!

You will have an initial meeting with your Orientation leaders and Orientation group. You will do some introductions and learn too many names. You’ll get your first dinner in the Dining Hall (DH) with your group. You will have a meeting like this at least once a day for the first few days. From here on out, the week is filled with events for the new students!

While I can’t spoil what all the events are, I’ll give you a short list of things that have happened in the previous years. Bingo, trivia (with prizes), coffee from Foxtail, paint-by-number, mac and cheese bar, and some other social events that are a great time to meet people! Some other traditions are visiting the Presidents house, Convocation, and finishing off the week with the carnival.

This carnival is for all the students and happens the night before the first day of class. It is filled with some classic carnival food (fried Oreos, funnel cake, and big soft pretzels) and there are a ton of rides set up on the field. Make sure to take a spin on the big Ferris wheel! All these events are so much fun, and it makes the transition to campus easier after having this week of meeting people. After the carnival is over, you go to sleep and get ready for the first day of class the next morning!

After a few days of class, there will be a big event where all the clubs and organizations line up and you get to go “window shop” and see all the fun clubs to join. You will walk out of here finding at least one thing you want to join! You can find a whole list of all the clubs and organizations we have online here. At this point you should be feeling a little more comfortable and confident around campus and your time here at Furman has just begun!

 

 

 

Wishing you all the best,

Sally