Back to school has a different connotation when the student is a college freshman, and the issue is moving away from home. Maneuvering into the first real test of young adulthood involves much more than taking inventory of fresh notebook paper and pencils--it’s about transitioning successfully into the next life chapter. Probably a bigger deal than discovering where to get Thai food at 2 a.m., or which professors use the most red ink, is learning to live among new friends in a new place.

For these reasons CMC’s annual orientation is a much-anticipated event. It’s the first encounter with college life that often sets the tone for how incoming college students view the academic semester ahead. And because of that, the orientation process will extend weeks into the beginning of the fall semester. For example, after new students have made it through the first week of classes, CMC and neighboring Scripps College sponsor off-campus trips to the beach, the mall, and sightseeing visits to Los Angeles. Just knowing they don’t have to go through the college transition alone comforts new students, while returning students look forward to the opportunity to give back to their peer community through mentoring relationships.

“Orientation at a large university is much more formal, and you are not as likely to get personal attention from resident assistants and other orientation volunteers simply because there are too many students to allow for that,” says Cyndi Hsiao '03, a transfer student and a CMC resident assistant.

Orientation at CMC also is distinctively different in this way: The Claremont Colleges comprise a vast collegiate community that stretches beyond CMC's manicured lawns, and is one waiting to be explored. Students breaking from orientation meetings and lectures might zip over to Pomona College’s FroshAid party, with dancing and a live D.J., or over to Scripps College, for a carnival with games, cotton candy, and booths. And then there’s Harvey Mudd College’s “disorientation party,” held, you guessed it, when orientation wraps.

CMC’s orientation consistently relies on the teamwork of resident assistants, academic liaisons, sponsors, and general orientation staff. They see to it that students are welcomed, and that residence halls (themed and decorated as breakfast cereals this year) have the right balance of snap, crackle, and pop to energize the new inhabitants. Sponsors are the ones who usher students into meetings, and make sure they wake up in the morning for mandatory orientation events, and, when necessary, keep sanity amidst the hurricane of change. Academic liaisons provide information about classes and professors, and offer advice on assembling a solid but manageable class schedule. And post-orientation weekend, R.A.’s assume all of the jobs that sponsors and academic liaisons previously held.

There are even times when helping new students transition into college life means giving them a lift to the local store, or driving them to the airport, volunteers say. And the commitment to lend a hand is never in short supply.

“I wanted people to know my door is always open for those who need someone to talk to, whether they need a shoulder to cry on, or a helping hand, or whether they just want someone to laugh and joke with,” said Hsiao, when asked what she expected from orientation this year.

Fellow resident assistant Kofi Acquaah-Arhin remembers what it was like to have help when he was a freshman. He forged a closeness with the resident assistant and with all of the upperclassmen assigned to bunk in Phillips Hall. “They made sure I took the right classes from the right professors, and provided the mature surrounding that I wanted,” Acquaah-Arhin said.

Moving in: A CMC student works her way into one of the residential towers, with help from family members.

It's not uncommon to see CMC staff members lending a hand during Orientation. Above, John Faranda '79, vice president for alumni relations and director of development, helps with some unwieldy luggage.