Oriented

The Class of 2013 has been convened and taught its first few lessons of college life. Parents have been oriented, fed barbecue and sent home, and depicted in skits as wanting to hover a little too much. The students who live on campus are settling in. As a commuter student, I could have elected to spend orientation weekend on the St. Martin's University campus, but I suspect the settling-in process probably is entailing some late hours.

The orientation guides, all upper classmen, are giving the new students a good taste of college life and making sure they have the contacts they need to be successful. This four day process is in huge contrast to my freshman year centuries ago at Big State U: my parents dropped me off at the dorm, we had a convocation for the several hundred freshmen and were given a handbook with a bunch of rules that no one ever read. Before you ask, yes, boomers could read in those days -- we often chose not to, though. We were having too much fun at the back of the crowd.

I think my father's contemporaries might have gotten restless if Big State had put on a farewell barbecue after a day-long parent orientation like St. Martins did. Boomer parents, though, really like these things. People love to watch Mad Men on TV, but it may not have been such a thrill to have those guys as parents.

Yesterday the students went out to clear a walking trail in Lacey, the city surrounding the campus, as part of the Saints in Service program. I stayed on campus and lined up some ongoing volunteer work for myself and did some studying: The Crucible is as challenging as I remember it.

Last night, as the orientation guides put on a skit about making choices regarding drugs, drinking, sex, study habits and getting along with roommates, I kept myself from giggling at first by trying to put myself in the younger students' shoes. During our group discussions, they keep mentioning how excited they are to be independent, on their own, meeting new people. They look a little nervous, too. Some of them are thousands of miles from home, and all of them are taking steps that will mark their entire lives. That gives me the shivers.