Ian Eisner
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Scavenger hunts, campus tours and flocks of wide-eyed high
school graduates can only mean one thing: it’s orientation
season. A time when pre-freshman from across the country, not yet
jaded by the rigors of college, head toward UCLA for a three-day
power-session filled with tidbits of advice and words of wisdom
about campus living. But for all its good intentions, the
orientation program turns out to be, at best, a lukewarm
experience.
While there is certainly a need to acclimate students on the eve
of their college experience, the UCLA Orientation program
unfortunately doubles as a giant day-care center.
Students expecting their first tastes of freedom and personal
responsibility are sorely mistaken. As it turns out, little time is
provided for individual exploration or interaction. Instead,
students are forced to remain in small hand-holding groups most of
the time. It is strikingly un-college-like, especially for a
program designed to familiarize students with the
characteristically independent college experience. Orientation
counselors have been heard to utter the phrases “UCLA is
boundless” and “Please don’t stray from the
group” in the same sentence.
This might be forgivable if the orientation process were replete
with useful facts and unique insight. Unfortunately, there is
little covered that students haven’t heard before or
couldn’t figure out by flipping through a student guide. But
at least the disseminators of this information are well informed
and generally able to answer most student questions. In what
amounts to a three-day question and answer period, students are
given ample time to work out any concerns or misgivings.
Not content to just tackle academic-related inquiries, though,
the UCLA Orientation program somehow finds the need to inculcate
students about issues not central to the academic experience. Much
to the students’ dismay, they are forced to spend a good
portion of their orientation experience cramped up in a lecture
hall, learning about sex, drugs and tolerance.
These are, as stated in the orientation manifesto, exercises in
“personal development through workshops and
presentations.” Nevermind that students have sat through
these kinds of lectures countless times before. The real puzzler is
why Orientation finds it necessary to invest time in character
development at all. Spreading the virtues of tolerance, while
admirable, certainly falls outside orientation’s scope of
purpose.
The students themselves even note the absurdity of
“personal development” training, as evidenced by their
laughter throughout the workshops. And who can blame them? After
all, watching a bunch of fourth-year students “play
drunk” while acting out a moronic drinking game can be quite
amusing. The message, of course, is to “drink
responsibly.” But who hasn’t already heard this message
countless times before, in what was likely a more credible context?
The university’s sermon would be better served by simply
handing out pamphlets that urge safe-sex, responsible drinking and
tolerance.
Fortunately, not every aspect of orientation is as miscast as
“personal development” training. For instance,
orientation affords incoming students a taste of college life by
allowing them to spend a couple nights in the dorms with fellow
future-bruins.
This experience can help allay anxieties that come along with
the transition to college. To a certain degree, orientation serves
its function in slightly demystifying the campus and college life
in general.
Whether or not this experience makes up for the shortcomings of
orientation is another question. The answer really depends on
personal preference. Unfortunately, under the status quo, students
have little choice in the matter. So like in years past, throngs of
future-bruins will arrive at college orientation, only to leave
with a vague idea of what college is really about.