The transition into freshman year is never easy. Did COVID-19 make it even harder? Or did the slower pace ease the freshmen’s adjustment onto campus? Move-in days for freshmen were from August 13-15. This allowed some of the freshmen to explore campus, spend time with parents and meet Orientation teams before jumping straight into O-Week. However, for the portion of freshmen who arrived August 15th they only experienced one meeting with their O-Team. All further O-Team meetings were optional.
Sarah Copeland ’21, an O-Team leader, said that the staggered move-in times gave freshmen varied experiences, from three to four meetings with their O-team to only one. Because of this, freshmen started out on different levels of connectedness to the people around them.
Abby White ‘24 said that she came on the 15th and missed the meeting that day. She was not able to meet with her O-Team until the non-mandatory meetings. This inconsistency and variation created a different experience for freshmen not only from this year compared to other years, but even within the class of 2024.
Jon Schimpf ’23, another O-Team leader, spoke very highly of the whole experience. He said his O-Week experience was more relaxed and enjoyable. Schimpf said, “O-Fest had a lot of fun activities including mini golf, badminton, and succulent-potting. Not to mention the catering by Duck Donuts.”
His perspective on the week overall was very positive and hopeful, saying that the COVID-19 restrictions actually helped create some new ideas on what O-Week could look like in future years. The one downside that he saw was the same as what Copeland saw: uneven amounts of time to bond with the O-team members.
Charlotte Mbwala ’24, who lives on 4th North, said she enjoyed O-Week, especially because it suited her personality. Some of the girls in her O-Team did not like it so much because of the O-Week stress and the less structured nature of this year compared to others. Mbwala also added that the greatest sense of community and support she has felt since being here was through her hall and its weekly Prayer & Praise.
Copeland also said that this year she feels like the hall has become the central place of community. Getting to know the freshmen this year has been easier because of the contained COVID-19 precautions which try to limit each person’s number of close contacts. Hallmates tend to be in each other’s limited circles of close contacts.
Quinn Arnold ’24, who also lives on 4th North expressed that she loved that there were four days before classes started. She said that her friends at other schools only had one day to move in. Her friends had classes the very next day, and they expressed how stressful that had been for them. Arnold appreciated Covenant’s more slow-paced move in.
Freshman year is a time to enjoy newfound freedom and to realize that many rules are now set by personal limitations rather than by parents. When asked what the biggest surprise was moving into college, many of the freshmen interviewed said it was the freedom. The fact that college students can text a friend saying, “Let's go to Sonic at 2am,” and not have to check in with anyone is crazy to them.
Other freshmen report wrestling with the new, in-between level of independence they have. One freshmen described the experience as having the freedom to eat ramen noodles in bed, and the responsibility of having to clean that up.
Sam Powell ’24 says, “I feel old enough to take care of myself and young enough to have fun doing it.”
Even before Covenant instituted its COVID-19 precautions, O-Team leader roles were being reduced as the leaders’ required Christian Mind attendance was being phased out. This is a great relief to the team leaders and to their schedules, but also does disconnect them a bit more from the students in their O-Team, especially if those students arrived late. Paloma Bavcevic ’24 said that she particularly likes that O-teams are grouped together by major and in the same Christian Mind class because it allows the discussion-based class to be more vulnerable and engaging.
Copeland concluded by saying that despite the fact that the staggered move-in days caused freshmen to have a variety of different connection experiences, she believes it will even out soon enough as long as upperclassmen continue to pursue the freshmen and transfer students.