Day Two of Orientation (Tuesday, June 7) went by rather quickly. I woke up early in the morning and scarfed down some leftover Chipotle and guzzled a glass of milk, put on my backpack, and went to OSU. I had to go to one of the Special Interest sessions that began at 8 am. The special interest sessions include sessions for intercollegiate athletics, disability services, ROTC, University Honors and Scholars (families), University Honors (students) and University Scholars (students).

For me, since I am the recipient of the Young Scholars Scholarship, I had to go to that specific session. Without that scholarship, I wouldn’t be going to OSU; I would most likely have gone to a community college in my hometown if not for the Young Scholars Program.

The first required session for ALL students began at 9 am: “Life Outside the Classroom”. It was held in a giant lecture hall that could seat around 700 people. The Office of Student Life presented what college life would be like outside of the classroom and what resources were available. I learned about campus safety, transportation, and other things.

At 10 am, students broke up into our groups for the FYE Peer Leader housing discussion. At this session, I met with a residence hall director and my Peer Leader to talk about what living in the dorms at OSU will be like. They answered any questions the group had.

At 11:15 am, everyone was dismissed. Some people had academic advising appointments beginning shortly, while others had a longer wait time before they would get to choose classes. My appointment was at 12:30 pm, so I had about over an hour to roam around and get errands completed. And no, students do not get to choose what time their appointment is; it’s randomly assigned to you during the first day of orientation.
During my free time, I went to the OSU Bookstore by the stadium to pick up Class of 2020’s required reading for the summer: “The Other Wes Moore” by Wes Moore. (The voucher to get the book is put in the orientation folder.) After that, I went to TechHub to turn in a piece of paper to enter to win an iPad.

This book is a good read! You can get a copy for free before you leave.

Afterwards, I went to Denney Hall (that’s the hall where University Exploration students go to for their advising) and sat down to surf the Internet because I still had a lot of free time. At noon, I walked to the third floor and in the office, I told the receptionist my name to let her know that I was checking in.

12:30 pm – While waiting in the lobby of the office, a petite brunette strolled in and said “Melinda”. I asked how she was doing and followed her into her own tiny office. The advisor I met was Jena and she was very pleasant and nice to talk to. I showed her my mock schedule, and she registered me for those classes after discussing them for a little bit. She thanked me for making her job easy. The appointments are 30-minute long, and time flies by fast.

This is my schedule for Autumn 2016! I like being done with my classes early so that I have my afternoons and evenings available for studying, volunteering, and working at a part-time job. (Also, I have little legs so it takes me longer to get to my classes.)

1 pm – I left OSU; my parents picked me up. I had taken care of all my business on campus for now, so there was no need for me to stay there.

This is a list of tasks to complete before you begin classes in August:

• Get your BuckID. (I did not get mine during orientation because I didn’t have a federal ID or driver’s license at all.)
• Send AP/IB scores and college transcripts.
• Check email regularly.
• Receive housing information in mid-July to find out your roommate(s) and room and residence hall assignment.
• Make changes to your schedule.
• Pay fees. For Autumn 2016, fees must be paid by August 16 or a late fee will be assessed too.
• Confirm or waive health insurance. Every student must have health insurance, whether OSU provides it or the student’s family provides coverage.
• Complete the vaccine requirement.
• Complete Campus Clarity online training.
• Look for jobs on campus.
• Check schedule before classes begin. Sometimes the class times change or the location of the lectures or labs change.

After orientation, make sure to enjoy the rest of your summer. If you have questions remaining or you have new concerns once you get home, don’t hesitate to contact someone at OSU about it!

Feel free to comment about your own orientation experience or leave some feedback about my post.