New student orientation welcomes unsuspecting victims to MRU
New format helped run the two-day event smoothly
Nathan Ross
Web Editor
New Student Orientation kicked off the school year yet again, with hordes of new students roaming the halls of Mount Royal learning where exactly they’d be spending their time in the coming year. This year, students were treated to Jonnie Penn and Dave Lingwood from MTV’s The Buried Life as speakers at the welcome speeches.
The Student’s Association of Mount Royal was very busy during this time, putting together a schedule consisting of “Chow and Wow”, a ball pit and the student play – I Heart MRU.
The NSO was run as always by student volunteers in their later years, giving their time to help new students feel welcome here at the school.
Yellow-shirted voluteers Valentina Ottati (l) and Meaghan Archibald take just one of several groups around campus, giving them a tour of their new home. Photo: Nathan Ross
Katie Wotherspoon, a second-year Social Work student, was one of the volunteers who led groups around both Sept. 3 and 4. She feels that NSO is just one of the great things that MRU does to help new students.
“I think there are a lot of resources at MRU that people don’t know about,” said Wotherspoon. NSO is a great way to get to know those services and get a feel for the school before you start.
It also does end up connecting you to people in your program. You meet people that will end up in your classes and you might feel less alone walking in to the first day.
“It also helps foster school spirit.”
This year, the orientation was not done as one big group. Instead, tours started at both 9 a.m. and at noon, allowing for smaller groups to tour the campus. This made the tours more personal, and students responded positively to them.
Dennis McNair, a new Nursing student who took part of NSO, spoke highly of the two-day event. “(NSO) helps nurture the community atmosphere, and now I have a better idea of where things are on campus,” said McNair. “There were few answers (my tour guides) didn’t have.”
There was one sour note though as I Heart MRU performed what was likely its last run (more on that on page 11). The welcome back festivities will conclude Sept. 12 with U-Fest.
