Every fall trimester, USAO hosts Welcome Week, also known as orientation, for the incoming freshmen and transfer students. This is a chance for freshmen to learn about their new environment and meet many of their peers. The students will participate in team building exercises and learn the basics of college life, such as where classrooms are and how to use Canvas. Annie Roberts, Student Life and Housing coordinator, plans and executes this event every year.
According to Roberts, USAO is expected to have 250 students attending orientation this year, which will be split into different groups called droves. Move-in day will operate similarly to last year, which Roberts said is styled like a Chick-Fil-A drive-thru line to get students their keys and information in a fast, orderly process. A new event called matriculation will “be a formal hand-off from the students and their families to the USAO family” according to Roberts.
Orientation will have more of the classic events from previous years that were a big hit including the Grady County Fair and Learn-A-Latte, which provides an opportunity for the incoming students to meet their professors. There will also be the Drover Cool Down with water inflatables and snow cones to cool off from the heat.
Every year, there is a Battle of the Boats in the Lawson pool. The battle tasks each drove with building a cardboard boat, placing one of their team members inside, and then fighting to see who can stay afloat the longest.
Along with the Battle of the Boats, each Drove also puts on a skit for the rest of the students. Members have the chance to make their skit how they want it while following the guidelines that are set out for them. They are allowed use props and music to help their skit.
“The closing ceremony will also close on more of a bang this year,” Roberts promised.
Welcome Week begins when new students move in Thursday, Aug. 22, and orientation will wrap up Sunday, Aug. 25. The first day of classes will begin the following day Monday, Aug. 26.
Elyanne Kenney is a third-year psychology major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
