On Monday, June 22, the incoming freshman and transfer students came with their guests to the orientation. First, everyone was given free bags and T-shirts, then got their pictures taken for their IDs, and then gathered in the Campus Center event room. The students were welcomed by the university faculty and were given an introduction about Stockton. Then, the student leaders introduced themselves to us and held a small and humorous play. At the end of this session, all the students were split from their guests and were divided into different groups according to their schools. Since I’m a NAMS student, I was in group 1.

My group was escorted to a group session meeting room and filled out a survey about our academic backgrounds and expectations about our college careers. Then, we gathered in a classroom and we first watched a short video about a young boy talking about working hard to achieve his dream. Then the orientation leaders answered our questions about student life and academics. They also showed and explained to us how to use the Go Stockton Portal and how to register for classes. Then some NAMS faculty members joined the session and explained the academic system at Stockton and then we were divided into even smaller groups according to our majors and we were advised on which classes to take this semester. Then we had a short lunch break and then registered for classes.

After registration, we gathered in a hallway to play “All My Friends and Neighbors” and “Ships and Sailors.” After that, the commuter and residential students split up. I went with the other commuters and the T.A.L.O.N.S. told us more about commuter resources and opportunities on campus and about the club “Commuters on the Go.” We also played a Jeopardy-like game with questions about the university and the campus and the two teams were the Tributes and the Smarties. Last but not least, we answered another survey about orientation and asked a couple of questions about Welcome Week.

At the end of the orientation, there were some refreshments and gifts given out and there were tables around the campus center with information about campus organizations and facilities. I think that orientation was a wonderful event that I will never forget.

Tasbeeh Muhamed