By Bryan Lassiter, a current student at The College of William & Mary
In college you have many experiences ranging from getting a C on that paper you spend countless hours on to going to football games to hanging out with your friends all over campus. Even though all these things are true, my most important experience in college was way before any of this. It was freshman orientation. This might seem like something so inconsequential being it is the first week of school and no one seems to really like it. However, to me freshman orientation set the stage for the rest of college.
When I came to school, I was nervous beyond belief. I had no idea what to expect from college and I didn’t think I was going to meet people very easily. That all changed when I got there. At William and Mary, freshman orientation is the first five days of freshman year where you move-in, do a ton of bonding with all the people on your hall and in your dorm, and learn to fit in on campus. Although I was dreading being put in a situation where I knew no one, I was actually able to thrive from it. This was my most important experience because it was the first time I was completely on my own. For those five days, I had no one from high school or home so I had to make the best of it. I was able to make friends that I still have to this day and learn that being a freshman is nothing to be nervous about. During this time, I fought my fear of change and began my life at the school I love. After this experience, I knew anything else I experience in college would be so much better because I had this groundwork from the beginning.
From freshman orientation I learned that you have to make the best of any situation. The thing you might be most worried about could really be the best thing for you. I also learned that you need to try and meet as many people as you can in your life. If I hadn’t of met all the people I did those first five days, I would have gotten nowhere in college. Finally, I learned that you should always look for the positive in things and try your hardest to have fun. Embrace everything you are doing and it can be the best time of your life. Freshman orientation was only the beginning, but it prepared me for the rest of my college career.
