YouAlberta
In my first year, I lived in Lister Hall, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous on move-in day. I didn’t know a single person, and that was terrifying. I had seen the campus before during Family Orientation; however, I was still far from familiar with where any of the buildings were and how to get around. Nonetheless, I was still super excited to meet a whole bunch of new people and start my university journey!
After we had moved in, all of us first-years went through the Lister residence orientation called BaseCamp. It was a week of activities that helped us get to know each other, our residence, and our campus. I loved BaseCamp because of just the amount of time we all spent together as a floor; we spent a lot of time just hanging out and getting to know each other. However, my favourite BaseCamp memory by far was when we were introduced to the best part of the U of A: DODGEBALL! There was one day when some of the upper years played a demo game, and I had never seen such a fast-paced and high-intensity game of dodgeball in my entire life! I was blown away! It was like watching an NHL game, except it was dodgeball! That was when many of us fell in love with the game, and it became a huge part of our lives!
Before classes started, I also got the chance to attend the Faculty of Engineering’s orientation. That was an awesome day for me, as it effectively immersed my peers and me into the culture and traditions of the UofA Engineering community. One of their orientation traditions is to play a big game of blindfolded musical chairs, which I had the opportunity to play. I ended up coming in second place and winning a free UofA Engineering hoodie, which was extremely exciting for me as a new student! I will always cherish that memory! I also had the chance to explore all of the amazing clubs that the faculty offered, such as the First Year club, all of the discipline clubs, and clubs like Albertaloop that work on cool projects.
The day before classes started, I attended New Student Orientation, which was an astounding experience full of fun and informative activities! The day included meeting more great people, a campus tour, clubs fair, a very informative session called UAlberta 101, a free lunch, and the President’s Address at the end of the day! That was the day that I really started to feel like a part of the university as a whole. My favourite part of New Student Orientation was the clubs fair; it was really cool to see just how many clubs there are on campus (there are over 400)!
What followed was the Week of Welcome (WOW), a week-long event filled with so many amazing programs and activities. This main part of WOW was the WOW Village, which took up all of Main Quad. As a lover of pancakes, the breakfasts every morning were a must, and the Taste of the U was a great opportunity to try some amazing local food. It was also nice to take a break in between classes by playing some cool games on the Quad. All of the staff and volunteers that ran WOW were super helpful and welcoming, and it was truly a fantastic week of fun and memories!
My orientation experience at the University of Alberta really helped me to become integrated into the University community, and I would recommend to each and every new student that they attend orientation and get involved as soon as possible. If I hadn’t attended orientation, I would have missed out on making new friends, getting immersed into the campus community, learning about the university’s history and traditions, and so many more fun opportunities! There is truly something for everyone at the U of A, and the best way to find out what’s out there is to attend orientation. Go to New Student Orientation, go to your residence orientation, go to your faculty orientation, and - most importantly - have fun!
About Julian
Julian is a fourth-year student at the University of Alberta. After two years in the Faculty of Engineering, he is currently in the BSc/BEd combined degree program, and will graduate in 2025. Julian is a Student Events Coordinator with the UASU, and in his free time, he likes to listen to music, sing, play the guitar, and go to the gym.
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