Collegiate Times

07.10.08 centerpiece/orientation

The freshman class of 2012 has descended upon Virginia Tech this week. Orientation sessions will run from July 7 through July 25.

Each orientation session lasts two days and is filled with programs for students and their families to become acquainted to life at Tech.

According to the orientation guide, orientation is "the first stepping stone in the transition from high school to Virginia Tech."

During the orientation session, students have the opportunity to take tours of campus, get their Hokie Passport and learn a little bit about life at Tech. Sessions include information about student activities, career services and financial aid counseling.

Most importantly, students will get academic advising from their college to help them sign up for classes and chart their academic careers.

During the course of the orientation, students will be living and eating at on-campus facilities.

Parents are welcome to come to orientation as well. Bobby and Brenda Loy, parents of Allison Loy, an incoming biology major from Graham, N.C., had previously made a trip to Tech before coming to campus for new student orientation.

"We are impressed with the students doing the orientation program," Brenda Loy said.

"It is a great campus," Bobby Loy said. "Our only concern is the out-of-state tuition, but we hope that quality education will make up for that."

Of course, there are always concerns for parents and their children going off to college. For the Loys, however, this is nothing but an exciting time for their daughter.

"Not having her at home is not a good thing, but nothing is like the college life," Bobby Loy said. "She said it had to be Tech."

There are 30 orientation leaders who help ensure that everything runs smoothly for each orientation session, especially this year, with a record-breaking number of freshmen entering Tech.

Rob Arthur, a senior mechanical engineering major, was an orientation leader last year and serves as an orientation assistant this year. Arthur became involved with orientation because of his own experience.

"I really liked my orientation leader," Arthur said. "And I wanted to do for the freshmen what my leader did for me."

From disseminating information to dealing with frazzled parents and showing new students around campus, an orientation leader's schedule is very busy, but very rewarding.

"At the end of the day, you see how excited they are to come to Tech," Arthur said. "At first they are nervous. We make them more comfortable about coming here."

Overall, there are 12 sessions, four two-day sessions packed into each week. Each session has between 400 and 500 students in attendance, most of whom bring family members.