Summer may mean slower schedules for many of us, but for the Office of New Student Programs, it's perhaps the busiest time of year. Just shy of a thousand new students recently flooded onto campus in June and July to learn about what they can expect when they get to AU – and what will be expected of them.

I still remember my college orientation – and the excitement and nervousness that came along with it. I cranked up the volume on my Walkman as I listened to U2 on the car ride there, to drown out the Sinatra my dad had playing on the radio – and my anxieties about the whole “new kid” experience that lay ahead. We barely spoke.

Once there, Dad went his way and I went mine, as my new college had planned it. We both met people from places we’d never been before. I remember sitting in a circle listening to this one girl from a small town in central New York talk about biking during one of those group sessions where everyone says a little something about themselves. I thought she was a little weird. But then I was wondering what everyone thought of me, too.

Dad and I talked about all the people we'd met and the cool stuff I had to look forward to the entire way home in the car. And a month later, when I moved into my dorm, that girl from orientation turned out to be my next-door neighbor. We ate dinner together that first night, and she became one of my regular dining hall buddies for the next four years. She’s one of my best friends from college to this day.

All the best-
-Melissa Reichley
Editor, Alumni Update

P.S. Stop wondering what ever happened to those friends you've lost touch with, and come back to campus this fall for Homecoming & Reunion, October 15-17.

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