The alarm goes off at precisely 4:47 AM, loudly playing whichever song I had set my iHome to play just a few hours ago. I got ready, and was soon finding myself packing up my car with everything I needed for orientation (including suitcase, sleeping bag, purse, Wall-e pillow, Wall-e blanket…don’t judge). It was at 6:32 AM that I backed out of my driveway, needing to be in Flagstaff by 7:45 AM. I drove down the road with seemingly endless amounts of trees on either side thinking about how my next couple of days was going to go. Since they didn’t give us an itinerary until we checked in, I had no idea what to expect.
I finally reached the NAU campus, excited to be able to go and finally start my journey towards the college life. This was the moment I’ve been waiting for since I got accepted. I parked my car in front of Sechrist Hall, the hall where all the freshman (except for those in the STAR program) were staying in. I checked in, placed my things in my designated room, got lost a couple of times, and then met up with my friend. NAU had set up tables by The Union for their complementary breakfast as well as for the many booths advertising clubs, credit cards, classes, and fraternities/sororities. We were then all shuffled into the Audrey Auditorium for a bunch of presentations that seemed to last forever. Many of them addressed many times that we were at 7,000 feet and that dehydration and passing out were expected. Being from a town at 5,000 feet, it didn’t bug me much. However, if you’re from somewhere down lower (i.e. the valley, California, ect.), you may want to be prepared for the difference. I know many people that I met were having a hard time with the elevation.
Anyways, the day was mainly presentations, there was a lot of sitting around listening to people talk about how great everything is at NAU. Then, at around 7, we were released for free time. At 9:00 PM there was a dance called Hot Mess in the lobby of Sechrist Hall that had loud music and lights. Anything that graduated seniors and future freshman of NAU would love.
The second day had a quiz that freshmen had to take for NAU to learn more about them. Then, we had advising (there were different advising times assigned to different groups, otherwise it would have taken forever). This was my favorite part. This was when we were able to sit down with our selected advisors and discuss what classes we wanted to take and what direction we were planning on going in. I got many great classes lined up for when I start this fall. This was when I really got excited about attending NAU.
After advising there were some more presentations. However, I was extremely exhausted from everything already, and chose to just head home.
For me, freshman orientation was not exactly everything I had dreamed of. It was overall very tiring, however I did meet some great people and my excitement to start college was heightened. If you have not yet attended, I would advise you to prepare for cold mornings/nights (it was about 40 degrees when I was there), and windy afternoons. Since there is no air conditioning in any of the buildings, they do get quite hot inside, so prepare for that as well. Don’t bring 2850 blankets to sleep in. You won’t need them. 🙂
I don’t currently have any pictures. However, if you have any you’d like to share, go ahead and send them to northernazcollegelife@gmail.com. I would love to add them to this blog, and give you the credit, of course. 🙂
Anything you’d like to see specifically on the blog? Let me know!
-Ash
Northern Arizona College Life 