Getting a first taste of IU

For every IU student it is exciting, different and a little intimidating, but for the parents of those students it is none of those emotions. For them, orientation is the realization that their little boy or little girl is an adult.\nJackie Weddle said she is excited but is sure she will cry when she drops off her son, Kris Gatewood, for his first day at IU.\n"He is the youngest leaving home," she said. "However, I graduated from IU and my daughter is a senior here at IU and he'll be here so I'm really happy to keep it all in the family."\nGatewood shares his mother's excitement in beginning an unfamiliar stage of his life.\n"I'm really excited to meet new people and to get started on my own, start my life as an adult," he said. "I'm a little nervous about leaving home ... It will be different but I'm also nervous about the classes and how hard they are going to be, but I think I should do alright if I just study."\nThree hundred students, plus their parents, will come through orientation every day for the next five weeks. For Orientation leader Darrell Frazier, that is the best part.\n"It's really exciting," he said. "I get a chance to let them know about my college experience and kind of dispel myths they came in with. I get to meet new people every day ... All the parents grill (orientation leaders) with partying, alcohol issues, dorm life, all that kind of stuff. We just get a chance to be real with them. It's a pretty cool thing."\nStudents, parents and staff have a demanding schedule that begins at about 8:30 a.m. each day and ends as late as 9 p.m. The daily activities differ for the students and parents. Students have a fun-filled two days of placement exams, movies on life at IU and an overnight stay in a dorm while also setting up their network IDs and getting a student ID card. Meanwhile, the parents are shown ways to help their son or daughter succeed at IU with professors sharing their thoughts about classroom life, meal plans and financial information. \nLaurie Henry was at orientation with her daughter, Lauren, and thought IU's orientation process featured a lot of good information. Also, because Lauren is her second daughter going to college, she has some knowledge that the orientation sessions don't necessarily provide. \n"I think the transition this time will be easier," she said. "I know more what to expect, how often to call and all of that."\nHer daughter Lauren said she is familiar with the campus because her sister goes here and the people are informative, but she wishes class for the fall semester started tomorrow. \nKris Gatewood and Lauren Henry both concluded one thing after the first orientation day was complete: the dorm food was pretty good.