The lights were dimmed. The mood was set. The people were dancing in the center of the oak room, music blasting the latest dance music. Red, white and blue balloons in one set, blue and yellow in another, lined the walls along with Christmas lights. The multi-colored lights from a light machine lit up the room like a club.
The best part about it was that it was so good, it happened twice in a week.
Of course, this is just one of the social events that occurred at Orientation ’06, whose theme is “Where Everybody Knows Your Name,” after a line from the theme to the TV show Cheers.
With orientation able to be held in the Campus Center for the first time in three years, a return to normalcy occurred, with many of the events, such as the Activities and Information Fair, the evening entertainment with Traveling Max and the dance in the Oak Room, and many of the presentations were able to occur within the new building’s bright environment.
Students seemed to enjoy the events of freshmen orientation. “It’s great fun. It’s very welcoming,” said Jen Tucker ’06.
Craig Zandonella ’06 added “It’s good just getting to know people. You don’t know them at first, but you play games and get to know them.”
Organizers of the event were also very upbeat about how orientation went. “From what I’ve seen, it’s going very well,” said FUSA VP of Senate Casey Butterly ’03, during the midnight dance in the Oak Room. “All the incoming freshmen seem generally excited. The events have gone very well.”
FUSA President Karen Donoghue ’03 was also optimistic about the events. “Group A was awesome. Group B has to be broken in a little more. But it’s been good.”
Sophomores Jason Maxwell Stowe and Paul Marcos Robinson of the Theatre Fairfield improvisation troupe On the Spot shared their feelings about the orientation in a fairly original way:
Paul: “It was…” Jason: “…a grand old…” P: “…time. I had fun…” J: “…I cried a bit…” P: “… it was emotional…” J: “But that’s to be expected at orientation.”
The events mirrored previous years, with freshmen meeting in their facilitator groups, meeting friends through different games during the meetings. They listened to welcome speeches from people like Donoghue, who gave humorous advice in the form of 10 tips to remember about Fairfield. For instance, “Don’t get excited when the book buy-back program signs go up. That book you paid $50 for will probably only get you $2.50.”
Traveling Max entertained students in the evening in the campus center’s first floor, and the Oak Room was the location of the Activities and Information Fair, which allowed students to learn about some of the organizations that are available to them on campus. It was also home to the aforementioned midnight dance.
As for considering whether it’s more fun organizing or attending the events, Donoghue said “I liked it better going in as a freshmen and meeting my friends for the next four years. Because it’s back in the Barone Campus Center, it’s pretty much the same as it used to be. It’s bringing back old memories.” Of course, it’s deja vu twice over, since she attended both events.
Incoming freshman Michael Webb sums up the friendliness of the organizers and facilitators with a line all too familiar: “I feel like everybody knows my name.”
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