Learning their way around

Summer orientation begins today for incoming freshmen, and the campus is beginning to swell with new students and signs pointing out where to go next. \n"Our goal in orientation is to prepare the students as best as possible for their four years," said graduate intern Tara Sherwin.\nSherwin is with the Higher Education and Student Affairs \nprogram and is one of two graduate interns helping with the summer orientation program. She said getting ready for \norientation means getting schedules ready, making sure they have the right rooms reserved, getting technology set up, \nordering signs, talking to professors, faculty and advisers on campus, \nseeing how they fit into the schedule and sending out confirmation letters to students so they know when to come.\nOne of the main factors that contributes to the success of the orientation program is orientation leaders. \n"Orientation leaders represent the best on campus," Sherwin said. "We have a very intense selection process for how we pick our orientation leaders, because we want our students to be able to identify with them when they come here."\nAccording to the IU Office of Orientation Web site, the orientation leader's primary responsibilities are to help new students and their parents during the two-day program. They facilitate small group discussions with students, direct participants, answer questions, assist with testing and help ease the transition to IU. The orientation leaders are selected during the spring semester, attend training in April and begin full training just prior to the summer program. \nDuring the two-day orientation program, students are housed in Wright Quad. The first session begins today with programs running every day except Saturday until July 25. Sherwin said parents have the option of staying on campus in Willkie or staying in a hotel off-campus.\nWhile students and parents come together for the orientation, each has a different schedule.\n"Students can expect to get advised for fall schedule, register for classes and meet current students," Sherwin said. \nShe also said students will attend sessions throughout the day, including sessions on student life and success at IU, which will tell them how to make the most of their time at IU. Two of these sessions are "For Students Only" -- a session on sexual harassment and "IU Unplugged," a session on diversity.\nParents have a different welcome. Some of the sessions they will attend include campus resources, group advising, evening receptions to help familiarize them with other areas of campus, sessions on finances and a session called Family Forum, Sherwin said. Family Forum allows parents to ask questions without the presence of their children about life at IU\n"They get to hear real answers from real students," Sherwin said.\nShe said the students and parents have different schedules because "we want to make this (the students') own experience"