Student orientation leaders have a special job: welcoming students, teaching them about Marquette’s culture and making sure they feel at home on campus.
“Orientation leaders are one of the first points of contact for students and their families,” says Marianne Di Ulio, director of New Student and Family Programs. “They set the stage for what everyone can expect in their first year and beyond at Marquette.”
The student leaders oversee groups of first-year students during orientation, showing them what Marquette has to offer.
“To help student orientation leaders prepare to lead these groups, the leaders come to campus early for training,” Di Ulio says. “This includes sessions on leadership development and group dynamics; as well as receiving presentations from campus leaders on the information they will be providing to their groups.”
Student experience
Student orientation leaders go through training each year to understand how to deliver important information and get students excited about being a Golden Eagle.
Gwyneth Medlock, a senior in the College of Nursing and student orientation leader, says the leaders learn how to handle difficult conversations and situations that may arise throughout the week. This can include helping new students make friends or deal with potential homesickness.
However, training isn’t always over serious topics. Orientation leaders practice conversation starters to get students engaged and involved when participating in group activities. One classic activity is icebreakers — group conversation topics to relieve tension and allow students to share about themselves. Medlock does the same icebreaker activity each year and says the activity holds significance.
“I have students write their name and an animal that starts with the same letter as their name,” Medlock says. “Then, I have students write the animal on a sticky note and put it on the back of their name card so if the name tag gets flipped around you can still guess their name with a helpful pneumonic. I use the animal goose, and even now I’ll walk around campus and hear someone yell, ‘Hey Goose!’ which fills me with so much joy. Knowing I have been there for students during one their hardest weeks and they still feel comfortable with reaching out to me, is the biggest reward I have ever known.”
Icebreakers can be a great way to learn interpersonal skills, and most orientation leaders find that with this role comes the ability to practice other transferable skills that are then used in the classroom or in their personal lives.
Orientation leader Alexis Mennis, a junior in the College of Health Sciences, says that one of the most useful skills is practice with public speaking.
“I learned how to settle my nerves when I talk in front of large groups” Mennis says. “As well as to getting an audience engaged while I speak, so they can learn all the exciting opportunities Marquette has to offer.”
The experience of being a student orientation leader can be transformative in many ways, but leading through service to others is at the heart of it all.
“When you put on the orientation leader shirt, it’s like having a superpower,” says Arik Zintel, a senior in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences. “You can dance, jump around, sing along to songs and no one will judge you, because they remember their first time on campus, and the energy orientation leaders bring can be life changing.”
Students who are interested in becoming a new student orientation leader can apply here.
Students must be in good academic and conduct standing with the university to be eligible. After a student applies, a staff member from New Student and Family Programs will reach out to set up an interview.
