For the first time since the pandemic caused everything to go into lockdown, Georgia College hosted a normal, in-person orientation. This was the first orientation of the summer season, as the weekly event for new students will take place each Friday until the end of July.
Along with group speeches from President Cathy Cox, campus touring, and other small-group events, this season saw the return of “Bobcat Marketplace” on front campus. This event sees representatives from sororities, fraternities, clubs, and other organizations set up shop at designated tables to help the upcoming freshmen know what kind of extracurriculars the school has to offer. It also served as the main way many organizations got their name out there, and with the pandemic forcing everything to take place online, it was difficult for people to effectively tell more than a few people about their group.
“It’s nice to be able to actually talk to a lot of people in person again,” said Assistant Director of Athletics Al Weston, “It had been difficult getting people interested in either spectating or working athletics here without that person-to-person contact we had with the school in lockdown in previous years.”
Along with the Marketplace, students are put into groups based on their majors and also given ribbons to attach to their nametags that let others know what they are interested outside of their major. These groups are then given a more in-depth tour of the main campus depending on which major they are in, and they then take part in some short group activities in a classroom before they are allowed to wander around campus and explore for themselves.
“I really liked that they had groups based on your major, but I definitely appreciated how straight and to-the-point it was. It left me and my parents with plenty of time to look at clubs and organizations, as well as exploring the downtown area of the city,” said one upcoming freshman.
From the way the volunteers for the tours and at the Marketplace acted, it was evident that many people were glad to return to a more normal orientation schedule, as everyone from faculty members to upperclassmen mentioned how much more fun and exciting it was to have in-person orientations, as the immediate connections they can make with the incoming freshmen is vastly superior to the more awkward environment that inherently comes with online video calls for large group meetings.