New students and prefects engage in Playfair activities.
During their first week at Choate, new students underwent a series of orientation lectures and events. The programming was designed for students to get to know Choate, form new bonds, and be educated on the proper etiquette expected from them throughout their time at the School. While the events were both informative and important, improvements could have been made through clearer communication and more entertaining activities.
The three-day event began by splitting new students into four sections and sending them to various lectures about community building and inclusivity. I wish that I could have been present for the entirety of the presentations, but I often found myself arriving late to events and missing crucial information as a result of being lost on Choate’s vast campus without any guidance. Us newly arrived students were expected to somehow find the locations of orientation sessions on our own despite our very limited knowledge of the campus’s geography.
These information sessions, while helpful — covering topics such as Health and Wellness and Equity and Inclusion — were missing some key information. Sessions did not explain how to use Reach, navigate campus (this, we learned after the info sessions), efficiently manage time, or understand the schedule. A lack of coverage on these important topics created a discrepancy in knowledge amongst the freshman class and invited chaos to follow. Students were showing up at the wrong buildings, fighting over what was a major school rule violation and what wasn’t, etc.
After presentations, we shifted to Playfair, an event designed to create camaraderie and familiarity amongst new students. The problem with this year’s Playfair was the weather. Under the scorching sun, it was difficult to focus on anything else but the heat, leading many to question why the event wasn’t held in the Worthington Johnson Athletic Center’s indoor gym instead of the lawn. Furthermore, since the matriculation dinner was directly afterward, many of us spent the hour stressing about how we could make it back to the dorms in time to shower and change.
There needs to be better communication, more engaging activities, and accommodations for the weather for next year’s new student orientation process. Maybe, the School could introduce a committee made up of current students tasked with helping plan new student orientation; this way, the agenda would be shaped by student perspectives. I am looking forward to seeing how the opening days will continue to improve.
