The Importance of Welcome Week
Pull Quote: If you want to make some friends, now is a great time to do so.
Coming to college for the first time is a wild experience. Being away from home, living with a ton of new people, and having unprecedented freedom can be extremely overwhelming. Whether you are nervous, excited, or somewhere in between, I want you all to know that your feelings are 100% okay. This is the start of a new chapter in your life, so you get to choose how you want to live it.
One thing that comes with your newfound freedom, might be an attitude of “That sounds so lame, I would rather just sit in my dorm” when it comes to events that Residence Life is putting on. And sure, sometimes their events sound like they would make you roll your eyes. However, choosing to get out of your comfort zone is so vitally important at this point in the year. Your freedom to do what you want is going to be around all year, but the large number of events being put on are not.
At this point, Welcome Week activities have died down. However, Residence Life is still trying to push students to go out and meet new people through the different events they are still putting on. In my freshman year, I became good friends with people in my dorm through Welcome Week activities. I also met other new people through events put on by Residence Life, and I still talk to them as a senior. If you want to make some friends, now is a great time to do so. Otherwise, people make their circles and stick to them for the rest of the year. You may as well get an introduction to a few different people now so you will have more opportunities to hang out with others later.
If you did not go to the hall socials, carnival, block party, etc., it is not the end of the world. There will still be other opportunities for fun, such as the game night in Cater Hall on September second and Movie Bingo in the Memorial Union on the third. The easiest way to stay aware of upcoming opportunities would be to check your email. There are updates sent out weekly for what to expect during that time frame, and they will be from NDSU Residence Life. Another way to stay caught up is to follow @ndsureslife, @ndsu_ca, and @ndsu.official on Instagram.
As someone who is living on campus for their fourth year, I highly encourage you to go out and participate in these events. You don’t have to go with the intent to make friends, but still be open to it. At the very least you will typically get to leave with something free, whether it be food or prizes. Your college experience is going to be what you put into it.