For some reason, I did not start this session in the most desirable of conditions.  The coughs, sneezes, sniffles, and sore throat plagued me throughout the week.  Nevertheless, I put on the best show I could as if nothing happened.  Besides the added responsibility of a commuter wing and missing a 7:30 AM meeting on Day 2, I continued to perform and have a blast in the process.   Indeed, it seems like only one person voiced his/her concern about me being sick.  This week was unique in that I had even more one-on-one time with students and discovered just how well I could present information to a large group simply by “keeping it real,” according to an orientee.

During preadvising, I had a student who not only had a medical bar, but wanted to switch to Mechanical Engineering.  It is unfortunate to see that he was barred from registration for four weeks when UHS gets his test results, and I sympathized with him when he talked about how inefficient the bureaucracy is here in America.  I agreed with him, and ensured him that I find UT more efficient with respect to paperwork since so many things can be done using UT Direct.  During the last day, I managed to come across him again, and he brought the good news that he is able to get the doctors to fax the results.  I reminded him to check back every day and register as quickly as possible.

You may recall from my second session that I had a residential wing of five students.  A commuter wing consists of groups of students who will not be living in Jester East with us during orientation.  Although it is obvious that keeping people orderly gets more difficult as the group size increases, my partner and I put on a great show.  When we talked about campus issues, I was surprised by how open the students were about a topic as sensitive as sexual assault/relationship violence — they shared experiences about working with survivors, and bounced ideas off each other.  Our feedback forms included things such as:

• They made me confident that college upper classmen weren’t all jerks.
• Sunny was hilarious and *** was great!  {Heart} them both!
• Both had a very warm and caring presence.  I could talk to them about anything.
• I like the laptop
• They gave us the warmest welcome possible and made us feel as though we were already UT students.

The next sessions are going to test our wits as classes continue to fill up and students begin to lose their composure.  I will be heading to South Padre tomorrow with half the staff (excluding supervisors!) for a break.