Lisa Lewis had no idea what to expect when she joined the rest of her freshman class on an overnight trip during college orientation. The only hint she'd been given about the weekend's activities? Wear grubby clothes.

It wasn't long before she found out why. By the end of the weekend, she'd wrestled in peanut butter, mustard, ketchup, oatmeal and syrup and carried a dog bone in her mouth while sliding through gooey corn syrup, cornflakes and Crisco.

"We smelled for days," remembers Lisa, now a sophomore at Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon. "Everybody was in the shower as soon as we could get there. I had to throw my clothes away because I couldn't get the stink out of them!"

But she doesn't regret the experience. Not only did she have fun, she met a ton of people who, just like her, were new to this thing called college.

"The orientation activities were bonding experiences," she says. "You make instant friends. When I saw this guy in my first class, I immediately knew him from freshman orientation weekend. I'd put peanut butter in his hair!"

While all campus orientations may not include crazy games with kitchen condiments, they're all designed to get you involved, give you a good time, and introduce you to a lot of other new students.

When David Raley first arrived at college, he felt a little shy. But that pretty much changed during freshman orientation.

"I just felt like being more outgoing when I got into orientation," says David, a sophomore at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California. "And you really do meet so many people there. Orientation is definitely a very fun thing to do."

Melvin Sanders agrees, and says orientation was definitely a highlight of his first few days on campus.

"We got to school on a Saturday, and we didn't start classes until the following Wednesday, so every day was planned out for us with icebreaking activities," says Melvin, a sophomore at Central Christian College in McPherson, Kansas. "Some activities started early in the morning and we'd go to 4 or 5 and then there might be another activity at 7 that night. If you're a social person, it's really good for you, and even if you're not, it's still good because you can get to know the people you'll be living with."

Rain poured during parts of Tara Jobson's orientation, but that didn't stop her from getting into the activities, especially those that involved the school's lake.

"In one activity, two team members had to get into a canoe, paddle out in the middle of the lake and switch canoes with the other team," says Tara, a sophomore at Montreat College in Montreat, North Carolina. "About four feet before shore, my roommate and I were laughing so hard that our boat tipped over. We fell into murky pond guck. It was great. Even when the weather was gloomy, orientation was still fun. I felt very much at home, and I'd only been there a few days."

That's why she encourages freshmen to take advantage of orientation activities—even in bad weather.

"Do everything they plan," she says. "Get involved. If they say 'there's a coffee house tonight,' stop by. Give everything a try."

Even before those orientation activities begin, new college students must go through another rite of passage: Moving In Day.

For Tara, that day began with a welcoming committee holding up some, well, rather unusual signs. "Don't forget to smell your roommate's armpits," read one. Another one told students to be sure and get extra cash from parents.

"Just as we were approaching the main gate, I got a little turning in my stomach," remembers Tara. "But before we entered the gate, the welcome committee was standing there with big signs. All those feelings went away when I saw the signs. I was totally distracted by the humor."

And the day got even better. When Tara arrived at her residence hall, her admissions counselor was there—along with other school officials.

"The dean of students and the president of the college were helping everyone move in," Tara says. "We got out of the car, and literally five minutes later everything was in the hall. I moved one load up to my room. My mom didn't even get her hands on anything!"

For Lisa the day didn't go quite as smoothly. She quickly discovered she'd brought too much stuff.

"Once I got everything in, I wondered how it was going to work with another person's stuff in the room," says Lisa, who recommends packing only the necessities. "My clothes didn't even fit in the closet!"

For Lindsey Hamer, now a junior at Huntington College in Huntington, Indiana, unpacking wasn't the most difficult part of Moving In Day. Saying goodbye was.

"I kept saying, 'I don't know why I'm crying,'" she says. "I felt like such a big baby, but it was just the natural response when I saw my family walk away, and I knew this had to become my home for quite a while. I was so glad to be at college, but I just felt so alone."

Realizing her feelings weren't unusual helped stop the tears.

"Knowing that you're not the only one going through this helps," she says. "It was just really important for me then to remember the confidence I'd had in May when I'd made the decision to go to Huntington."

Along with moving in, the big moment of truth for the college freshman is often meeting your roommate. It certainly was for David, who admits to feeling a little nervous about that first hello.

Turns out David didn't have anything to worry about, even though the initial meeting was slightly uncomfortable.

"He seemed like an all-right guy, but it was still kind of awkward meeting him at first," says David. "You're meeting someone you're going to be living with for the next year. I was thinking, Well, I'll find out in about a week if he's a good roommate. He turned out to be an awesome roommate."

So awesome that David lost a little sleep over it.

"Some nights my roommate and I would stay up late talking," says David. "That was such a change for me. I was used to going to bed at 10 or 11!"

Lisa's experience with meeting her roommate also went smoothly.

"I had a positive feeling about it, but you really don't know," Lisa says. "The first day I met her, I was like, Cool, we're going to get along so well. She made me feel really welcome."

Still, Lisa admits living with a stranger can be an adjustment, even if you immediately hit it off.

"The first couple of days were weird," she says. "You have no clue what kind of background they came from or what their study habits are or what offends them."

Lisa's advice: "Don't try to be somebody you're not so you can make a good impression. Be totally yourself at first, because that's going to be the 'you' they are expecting for the rest of the year."

Next on the list of major adjustments is the collegiate dining experience. For Lindsey, it was kind of like a treasure hunt. She couldn't believe her eyes when she walked into the dining commons for the first time.

"I was amazed that I had so much to choose from," she says. "I tried a little of that and a little of this. I also started eating ice cream for dessert at nearly every meal."

It wasn't long, though, before Lindsey's enthusiasm wore off. "Now when I get to know freshmen at school, I tell them, 'Don't get so excited. You're going to have four years of ice cream. Maintain the eating habits you had at home.'"

But some things about college just aren't like home. Lisa learned that almost as soon as she moved into her residence hall.

"Our hall had 19 girls," she says. "I hadn't ever had to share a bathroom with that many people!"

Lisa encourages new students to try their best to relax and be flexible. She says the strangeness of the new living situation will soon wear off.

Amidst all the living adjustments, there's the whole going to class thing, which can also take some getting used to. For Tara, her first Old Testament class turned out to be a somewhat embarrassing experience.

"I remember going back to my room and thinking, This is all very weird. I don't think I signed up for this class," she says. "I saw the professor later that day and he said, 'Were you supposed to be there? I think you're in my class tomorrow.' I had been sitting in the wrong class on the wrong day and didn't know it!"

Knowing he was in the right classrooms didn't stop Melvin from feeling intimidated that first week. And while he came to college knowing academics would be tougher than high school, he didn't realize just how hard it would be.

"I'd never really had to do big papers before," says Melvin, "and every class had a six- to 10-page paper. I was overwhelmed."

Lindsey experienced some of that same anxiety when she began looking over the syllabi for her classes.

"It looked like so much work," she says. "Upperclassmen joked, 'It's just syllabus shock.'"

But Lindsey didn't think it was at all funny.

"Even when upperclassmen told me not to worry about the future," says Lindsey, "I still looked at what had been assigned for the next class period and wanted to cry."

Tara says that getting organized right away kept her from freaking out.

"I was never really too overwhelmed," she says. "I color-coordinated everything in my planner by due date. History deadlines were in pink, English deadlines were in blue. Get yourself in gear from the get-go. Stay on top of the game. By doing that you won't have to catch up."

Incoming freshmen can also expect new experiences that will challenge and stretch their faith. And, says Lindsey, the adjustment to a new spiritual environment was a very good one—even better than she expected.

"Just from visiting the campus, I couldn't tell what the spiritual atmosphere was," she says. "I thought, What if I'm going to a school that's only Christian in name?"

But that all changed when she arrived on campus and experienced a chapel service.

"The upperclassmen were so excited to be back at school and worshiping together," she said. "To see an auditorium packed with people my age so excited to be there, worshiping so enthusiastically, was really amazing.

"After seeing everyone together and singing hymns so heartfelt, I felt these people were really sincere. These people were serious about finding a place to grow spiritually. That was cool."

During her first week on campus, Tara visted a church near campus that seemed so different from the one she'd grown up in. It was just too "formal" for her tastes. Even so, she was very impressed with the pastor's sermon and with the solid teaching in Sunday school.

"I thought that any church I went to had to be like my church at home," she says. "But even though it was different, I just began to feel it was the right place for me to be on Sunday morning. By the second semester of school, I was a regular attender."

Tara encourages new students to be proactive in seeking Christian growth and fellowship. She also believes you shouldn't be afraid to try something new—like a church that's different from what you're used to. Going off to college, she says, "is a good time to explore what you need for spiritual growth."

By the end of the first week, Lindsey felt confident in her choice of colleges.

"I called home and said, 'Mom, we made the right choice,'" she says. "And Mom knew how much it meant for me to say that. No matter how good a scholarship you're receiving, or how many college brochures you sifted through, or how good the academic program is, you still have doubts."

Instead of focusing on those doubts, Lindsey encourages new freshmen to enjoy getting to know others.

"Don't be afraid to not only be yourself, but to get outside of yourself, because it's very easy to get wrapped up in your fears and analyze the change that's happening inside of you," she says. "It's so important to take the first step to introduce yourself to people and to not be afraid to get involved in activities. If you take the initiative to do things, you'll find new friendships."

David agrees, and believes it's important to reach out during that first week and get to know as many people as possible.

"I'd met so many people and everyone was so nice," he says. "I was having so much fun already. After that first week, I knew this was where I was supposed to be."

And while you're having fun, don't forget to leave room for the unexpected—which, as Lisa learned, can include everything from sliding through gooey syrup to smashing peanut butter in classmates' hair.

"People can tell you what to expect, but you won't really know until you get there," she says. "You have to take things as they come. Just have fun the first week."

2002 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
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