How to be coOL-My Guide to Being an Orientation Leader

Exhilarating, new, terrifying: these are all words that freshman commonly use to describe their college orientation. It’s a time filled with challenge and change pushing everyone to simultaneously embrace and forgo their comfort zones in order to find a new home at Northeastern. It was a whirlwind couple of days a year ago that proved to me this would be a place that I could make my own, which led me to seek out the opportunity to become an orientation leader this summer.

In order to prepare to run orientation, we go through a training process and one of the most important lessons we learned was how to be coOL. So many times we as a society get caught up in trying to seem “cool” and only show the world the facade that we actively maintain, when the truth is that’s not who we are. Throughout orientation my goal as an orientation leader is to foster a sense of belonging amongst the new students, and the only way that happens is if I’m not afraid to let my guard down, make a fool out of myself and embrace being coOL.

Orientation is a crazy mix of adrenaline, anxiety and caffeine. We run around helping families in any way we can, trying to ensure that their experience is a great one. This is a time of stress and worry for students and families alike, and I’ve never felt as privileged as I do knowing that I get to be a small part of their transition to Northeastern. I have the opportunity to meet so many students at the beginning of their journey who continually teach me about the world around me as well as my own views. This job has allowed me to be a leader in large as well as the smallest of ways that before now I never thought possible.

This experience has already changed me in more ways than I ever believed a job could. I’m spending my summer surrounded by friends who encourage me to truly be myself and force me to think about life in a new way. I’ve learned more about myself in these past two months than I have in the last 19 years. I was put into a space where I’m constantly asked to try new thing has expanded my confidence and showed me that I am capable. This is a job that defies all expectations and has changed me into the best version of myself.

Being coOL is what we aim for as a staff but it’s also how I choose to live my life. Throughout orientation I’ve found there is no use for anything but being yourself, especially when that means being a little goofy. As an orientation leader I hope to inspire incoming students to stop pretending and embrace who they are. College is a time for exploring, a time for growth, a time for new beginnings. We all want to make a good first impression, but often the times we forget to try to impress others are the times we create the greatest memories.