Making the (Freshman) Connection: Program helps first-year students adjust to college life
Making the (Freshman) Connection: Program helps first-year students adjust to college life
August 23, 2007
This fall, Amber Rosenberger, a collaborative education major from Millville, is a well-adjusted college student beginning her sophomore year at Rowan University.
But she remembers the worries she had as she was getting ready for her freshman year. And she credits Rowan's Freshman Connection program with setting the tone for her collegiate career.
Through Freshman Connection, organized by Rowan's Office of Student Life, this year's incoming freshmen pursued one of three tracts—service learning, adventure or arts and entertainment—as they worked to build relationships with their fellow classmates while sharing common interests.
Seventy students, along with eight upperclass peer leaders, participated in the tracts from Sunday, August 25-Wednesday, August 29, giving them a week's jump-start on their freshman year. The official freshman move-in day was Thursday, August 30.
For Rosenberger, who attended the adventure tract last year, involvement with the program put her mind at ease as she entered Rowan.
"It gave me comfort knowing I was going into the school year with friends," says Rosenberger, who served as a peer leader in the adventure tract this year. "From the start, I was able to build relationships with people. Right away, I had people to eat with and to talk to.
"Because of that, I was able to focus more on academics. Since I already knew I had friends, I wasn't worried about making them in class. So I was able to give class my undivided attention."
Sixteen students on the service tract delivered meals to critically ill people through MANNA, painted a mural at a homeless shelter for women and children, organized bowling for children, worked with Habitat for Humanity, and collected school supplies through Operation Backpack, among other projects. Kim Joyce, Rowan's director of service learning and volunteerism, leads the group.
Forty-one freshmen in the adventure tract spent four days at Ace Adventure in West Virginia, where they explored caves, went whitewater rafting, competed in mud obstacle courses, participated in team-building, and lived and ate together in log cabins.
And in the new arts and entertainment tract, 13 freshmen explored cultural attractions in Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C. Among other places, their travels took them to a Broadway performance of "Spamalot," to memorials in Washington, D.C., to an outdoor sculpture garden near Trenton, and to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where they saw the Renoirs, Cezannes and Picassos, and, also, the famed Rocky statue. The tract was led by Eileen Morrow, director of Rowan's bookstore.
No matter which tract students pursued, the goals of Freshman Connection are universal, according to Tina Pinocci, assistant vice president for student life at Rowan.
The program works to ease students' transitions to college, gives them the chance to get to know their classmates, and instills a connectedness to the University, says Pinocci.
"That seems to be something students really value," says Pinocci, noting that the Freshman Connection group has doubled in size this year. "Through Freshman Connection, students meet people before everyone else. They develop a self-awareness and a self-confidence. We're not calling this a leadership program, but students do develop those types of skills. Plus, it's a fun and exciting environment."
"What I enjoyed most was the team-building," says Rosenberger. "It really pushed you mentally. It made me get out of my comfort box. And the group was a wide range of people with different backgrounds. It wasn't just jocks."
While the University does subsidize the activities, freshmen still paid a $300-$400 fee to participate, depending on the tract.
Whether they were feeding the homeless, sloshing around in a mud pit or seeing a Broadway show, a huge part of Freshman Connection is the reflection and discussion that takes place after activities, according to Constantine Alexakos, who oversees the adventure tract. Peer leaders—five of which were in Freshman Connection last year—helped stimulate discussions and answer questions for students in the program.
The program's motto is "New skills. New friendships. New perspectives."
"We have many students in the adventure tract who have never done these types of activities before," Alexakos says. "By the last day, they have friends, people they'll be with throughout the year and for years to come. Very often, they get involved with other clubs and organizations. You see them all around campus."
Rosenberger can attest to that.
"My main group of friends last year came from Freshman Connection," says Rosenberger. "We even had a reunion this summer because we missed each other so much.
"The program helped me so much with homesickness. And it helped me to really love this college."
But she remembers the worries she had as she was getting ready for her freshman year. And she credits Rowan's Freshman Connection program with setting the tone for her collegiate career.
Through Freshman Connection, organized by Rowan's Office of Student Life, this year's incoming freshmen pursued one of three tracts—service learning, adventure or arts and entertainment—as they worked to build relationships with their fellow classmates while sharing common interests.
Seventy students, along with eight upperclass peer leaders, participated in the tracts from Sunday, August 25-Wednesday, August 29, giving them a week's jump-start on their freshman year. The official freshman move-in day was Thursday, August 30.
For Rosenberger, who attended the adventure tract last year, involvement with the program put her mind at ease as she entered Rowan.
"It gave me comfort knowing I was going into the school year with friends," says Rosenberger, who served as a peer leader in the adventure tract this year. "From the start, I was able to build relationships with people. Right away, I had people to eat with and to talk to.
"Because of that, I was able to focus more on academics. Since I already knew I had friends, I wasn't worried about making them in class. So I was able to give class my undivided attention."
Sixteen students on the service tract delivered meals to critically ill people through MANNA, painted a mural at a homeless shelter for women and children, organized bowling for children, worked with Habitat for Humanity, and collected school supplies through Operation Backpack, among other projects. Kim Joyce, Rowan's director of service learning and volunteerism, leads the group.
Forty-one freshmen in the adventure tract spent four days at Ace Adventure in West Virginia, where they explored caves, went whitewater rafting, competed in mud obstacle courses, participated in team-building, and lived and ate together in log cabins.
And in the new arts and entertainment tract, 13 freshmen explored cultural attractions in Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C. Among other places, their travels took them to a Broadway performance of "Spamalot," to memorials in Washington, D.C., to an outdoor sculpture garden near Trenton, and to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where they saw the Renoirs, Cezannes and Picassos, and, also, the famed Rocky statue. The tract was led by Eileen Morrow, director of Rowan's bookstore.
No matter which tract students pursued, the goals of Freshman Connection are universal, according to Tina Pinocci, assistant vice president for student life at Rowan.
The program works to ease students' transitions to college, gives them the chance to get to know their classmates, and instills a connectedness to the University, says Pinocci.
"That seems to be something students really value," says Pinocci, noting that the Freshman Connection group has doubled in size this year. "Through Freshman Connection, students meet people before everyone else. They develop a self-awareness and a self-confidence. We're not calling this a leadership program, but students do develop those types of skills. Plus, it's a fun and exciting environment."
"What I enjoyed most was the team-building," says Rosenberger. "It really pushed you mentally. It made me get out of my comfort box. And the group was a wide range of people with different backgrounds. It wasn't just jocks."
While the University does subsidize the activities, freshmen still paid a $300-$400 fee to participate, depending on the tract.
Whether they were feeding the homeless, sloshing around in a mud pit or seeing a Broadway show, a huge part of Freshman Connection is the reflection and discussion that takes place after activities, according to Constantine Alexakos, who oversees the adventure tract. Peer leaders—five of which were in Freshman Connection last year—helped stimulate discussions and answer questions for students in the program.
The program's motto is "New skills. New friendships. New perspectives."
"We have many students in the adventure tract who have never done these types of activities before," Alexakos says. "By the last day, they have friends, people they'll be with throughout the year and for years to come. Very often, they get involved with other clubs and organizations. You see them all around campus."
Rosenberger can attest to that.
"My main group of friends last year came from Freshman Connection," says Rosenberger. "We even had a reunion this summer because we missed each other so much.
"The program helped me so much with homesickness. And it helped me to really love this college."