Students share thoughts on revamped first-year orientation

Grace Ostrosky, Special to The Denisonian —

For an incoming college student, first-year orientation can be critical. 

Moving away from home, finding new friends, and creating a new schedule is all overwhelming. With the help of off-campus orientation experiences, first-year students were welcomed into the college environment. 

This year, the orientation programs ranged from the Denison Art Orientation to World of Sports.

Written in the Stars was a new off-campus orientation experience in which first-year students traveled to Camp Nuhop in Butler, Ohio, to spend time outdoors and invoke their creative selves. According to Kate Tull, the Associate Director of Orientation and First-Year Experience, Written in the Stars is meant to “engage [students] with the art of writing, storytelling, and poetry while immersed in the tranquility of nature.” 

Camp Nuhop featured hiking trails that led to waterfalls , as well as streams and open fields. 

There was canoeing, rock climbing, and ziplining during the day, and  dancing and s’mores at night. Students were able to spend intentional time on writing, but that was not all the trip offered. The off-campus orientation experience allowed students to build connections they may not have otherwise made. They were introduced to different people with different majors and interests from their own. Students shared cabins and meals together, which helped them get to know eachother better. 

“My off-campus orientation trip helped me find people I really liked being around,” said Margo Ellis ‘27.

“It was a great opportunity to meet people in my class and I also thought it was a nice break from all the information given on the on-campus orientation,” Addison Fransen ‘27 added.

“I bonded with a lot of people I probably wouldn’t have met,” said Bree Larkin ‘27. “And I also think it helped me adjust to living away from home because I got to experience life off-campus.”

This was the first year Denison required first-year students to attend an off-campus orientation trip, as in years past it has been both optional and limited.