Campus Connections: Exploring Student Life & Involvement

All right, we're going to kick things off. Once again, this is Campus Connections exploring student life and involvement here at UVM. Just to do some quick introductions, we are the Department of Student Life. So, my name is Jared Cadorette, and I use he/him pronouns. I'm the Associate Director for Student Involvement. And then sort of behind our scenes here, we have Shawn Yarlin, he/him pronouns, who is our Marketing Coordinator. He will be joining us tonight as well, and we have on our screen you will see an option for Q&A. That Q&A feature is available throughout this evening. So, feel free to ask your questions. Some of those Shawn will answer, but some of those will be able to, if time permits, have our amazing student panel be able to answer some of those questions. So, again, feel free to utilize the Q&A feature that you see on your screen to be able to ask those questions throughout the night. How tonight will work is I have some general information I want to share with you about who we are as a department, but also some of the great opportunities your students can be involved in. So, we're really excited for that. And then we have an amazing student panel, which are the real people you want to hear from tonight. And you'll be able to hear from them about their experience and have some of those questions answered. So, kicking things off, let's get involved in finding out what community like at UVM. So, our folks in Orientation do a pre-enrollment survey every year. And one of the questions that they do ask is, "What are incoming students most excited about?" And if it might not be surprising to you, but making friends is one of the number one things that students look forward to about coming to UVM. Now, on the counter side of this, that pre-enrollment survey also asked the same question of, "What are you most nervous about?" And believe it or not, the answer is also making friends. If you are one of those people, I want you to pause for a second and realize that you are in the right place. You're in good company. We're here to help you make those connections and talk about what you can get involved in. Um so kicking things off right right away, uh we're going to talk about um us, where we come in to help with that. Um so our what is the Student Life Department? Um the Student Life Department comprises of three different areas. Um and first off, we're more like the one-stop shop for keeping yourself connected and getting involved outside of the classroom and outside of the res halls. Um the three areas that we have are our Davis Center, which is that amazing building you can see there. Um it's really acts as our living room of campus. A ton of events are hosted there. Um it's really such a lively place and I'm sure many of you have already been to that been there. We also have our Student Government Association, which is really our voice of the student body. Um and they represent the Senate. They also represent our clubs and organizations, um and a lot of community outreach. And lastly, we have our student involvement side. They're really the hub of connection for events on campus. And this includes everything from outdoor events, fraternity and sorority life, um community engagement, leadership opportunities, um outdoor things. I know I've said that already, but it's such a big thing. Um and just a campus events in general. So that's sort of a snapshot of who we are. We are located in the Davis Center on the third floor. So um feel free to stop by and check us out. Um first off, just kicking things off, we have campus programs. So our campus programs is sort of this uh fun traditional large-scale events that you typically hear on college campuses. Uh a big driver behind that though is our UVM Program Board, also known as UPB as we call them. Um they're completely student-run uh organization overseen by Campus Programs. Um they plan everything from our Week of Welcome, which happens at the start of each semester. Um they plan our major concert every year, which is huge. Um comedians, battles of the bands, uh craft nights, weekly pub quiz, which happens every Wednesday. It's sort of a pro tip down there for you. And also a ton of fun job opportunities. You can literally get paid to plan and run events. Like how fun is that? So Campus Programs again one of the bigger hearts of our campus. Next up we have fraternity and sorority life. So we have about 10% of our student population is part of our fraternity and sorority life. We call it FSL for short. Part of that is we have six sororities and seven fraternities and we actually have a new fraternity that will be joining us this fall. So be on the lookout for that. But honestly fraternity and sorority life is just a great opportunity to really join in a built in community that already exists right off the bat as you start UVM. It also helps you develop those leadership skills. You got mentorship, participate in service opportunities in the community and honestly you build lifelong friendships throughout the process. To be involved we have two opportunities. So primary sorority recruitment that happens really at the first week of the semester. So you'll start seeing information now registration is open. You can check out our FSL page under sorority recruitment and you can actually sign up now if you'd like to be part of one of our sororities for recruitment. And that goes literally the first week of the semester through Labor Day which is actually when our bid night is that evening where you find out which sorority that you'll become part of. We also have fraternity recruitment which is a little less formal. It takes place pretty much the whole month of September. And one of the best ways if fraternity and sorority life is something you want to be involved in our pro tip for you here is to join us for our first kickoff event which happens September 1st and this will be meet the fraternities and sororities. It's a great event. It happens in the Davis Center actually outside of the Davis Center and sometimes bleeds into the Davis Center itself. But it's a great opportunity just to meet the different chapters, find out what they're all about and really just get that basic information. So, be on the lookout for that. Next up, we have our civic engagement. This our civic engagement folks get you connected to the services in the community and a tons of engagement opportunities. Our students have put on over 13,000 service hours this past year, which is huge. And it's not something we're very commendable with. They oversee efforts also on voter education and engagement. It's a huge part of what we do, and we are going into one of our midterm elections, so it is a big election year as well. They also host a community service fair. It's one of the tips at the bottom here for save the date. That community service fair is a really great opportunity to check out service opportunities both on campus and with folks within our community. So, mark your calendars for that, and hopefully you can join us for that. They also [snorts] work with a lot of our service related organizations. One of them includes Rallython, which is a 12-hour dance marathon. Yes, you heard that right, a 12-hour dance marathon that happens every March, and it raises funds for the UVM Children's Hospital. So, that's a really big event that our group works with. And we also have alternative spring break trips. I believe they do about three every year, and they go pretty much all over the country to different locations. It is a student organization that you can be part of. So, if that's a passion of yours, I highly recommend joining that. All right. Our next group that we have is our outdoor program folks. Um We have over 20 plus outdoor based RSOs or groups on campus. Our folks in outdoor programs, they advise some of our recreational community based groups like our ski and ride, our ski and snowboard club, our chicks on sticks for our female identifying students, the outing club, or a people of color outdoors. There's so many groups that they are working with. They also do some adventure trips like hikes to your favorite places, Um, camp out in October, which is gets you out in the woods, which is super fun. Um, also, if you are coming to campus and you are like, I need this piece of equipment or I need this piece of gear and you just don't have it or don't want to bring it with you or don't know where to find it, our department actually has, um, rentals for super, super cheap that you can get through our base camp, um, and you can get things like snowshoes, backpacks, tents. I mean, there's tons of stuff, um, that are available for you. So, please be on the lookout for that if that is something you are interested in. Um, and our team, uh, does a lot of work around the leadership development and outdoor wilderness training. Um, so, if you're excited about the idea of leading a trip like hiking, camping, canoeing, or even sea kayaking. I know that sounds weird, but yes, sea kayaking is one of our options. Um, our team is where you want to be, so make sure you participate in our outdoor programs. For those of you doing our adventure trek program, you're going to meet some of our folks as well, um, in outdoor programs. And as I said in the previous one, for civic engagement, if you're doing our service trek, you're going to meet our folks there as well. Uh, our outdoor programs, they are hosting an info session on September 10th. Uh, it is the last day of our activity fest as well. So, if you are interested in learning more about them, uh, please do save that date and join them there. All right, our next one is our club sports. We have about 60 plus club sports with over 2,000 participants, um, in our club sports. These can range anything from instructional, um, and recreational to competing in on a national level. So, it's really, really cool opportunities. Um, some of these include ballet, rowing, cycling, equestrian, field hockey, um, gymnastics, ice hockey, and I can't forget rugby, of course, which is one of our huge ones. Best part is there's no experience needed to participate. Um, some clubs do have tryouts, but not all of them do. So, um, just be on the lookout for that. The tryouts typically do take place the second week of classes, but, um, there'll be more details to come. Uh you'll learn more about that as you get here at UVM. Um but again, just another option for you. There's really something honestly for everybody if you're interested in club sports. Uh another um as I mentioned before, we do have clubs and organizations. We actually refer to them as our recognized student organizations, or you'll hear them as our RSOs. Uh we do have 200-plus student-run clubs and organizations. Um so it's amazing um that these are all student-run, and it's with a ton of different passions. Um and these are all funded and run through our SGA. Um and again, I keep mentioning it, but they're all student-run. It's unbelievable to me. Uh over 80% of our students are involved in some sort of student organization. Um and these can be anything from academic-based, community service, outdoor, um arts and performance, political, special interest groups, um and you you name it, we pretty much have it as a group. Um honestly, it's the best way as well to meet new people um that have common interests uh that you have. And you'd be surprised, there are so many different organizations that I bet we have what you're looking for. If not though, don't worry. Um if you don't find something, it is super easy to start a uh RSO or uh on campus. So please be on the lookout for that. If you want to check out our um opportunities, uh the link on the screen there, you'll see go.uvm.edu/involvement. That'll give you a previ- preview of some of the uh RSOs that we currently have on our campus. Um so get excited for that. But most exciting this year, we have something new that's coming this fall. Uh we call this it's our um Students have access to the brand new student engagement platform called Rally Point. Um basically, you'll be able to browse involvement opportunities, um connect directly with clubs and organizations, track your co-curricular experience, earn prizes, yes you heard that, earn prizes, um and so much more. It's a great place. Um all of our RSOs will be on there. You'll see all of the student involvement opportunities as well. You'll be able to track things like your service hours. I mean, you you name it, it's going to be your one-stop shop for everything that you would possibly need related to involvement. So, be on the lookout for Rally Point. There'll be a lot of communication coming forward with that. All right. Next up, I can't forget. We do have a ton of student employment opportunities just in our department alone. And honestly, this could be anything from a marketing position. As I mentioned earlier, the UVM Program Board is a is a position that you could literally hold on this campus. We have positions in FSL, Civic Engagement, Outdoor Programs. In our Davis Center, our building is mostly student-run. There's tons of leadership opportunities as well. And it could be anything from running an information booth. We have our event setup crew as well. There's so many opportunities just within our office alone for job opportunities. So, if it is something that you are looking for, definitely check out our website. You'll see it there. uvm. edu/studentlife. And you'll see a lot of those job opportunities that students can partake in. We also have JobX, which will post a lot of those positions as well. So, check that out if you are looking for a great way to kind of have some structure and routine in your life. Your hours are pretty much set for the most part for the semester. So, it's pretty nice to kind of build your your balance in your schedule. So, and you'd learn a ton of professional skills as well. And you honestly feel way more connected to campus and the Burlington area. So, check out many of those opportunities. One area I did not want to miss. They are not part of our department specifically, but they're very close colleagues of ours. It's our Intercultural Centers. So, this right here um is you'll see the names listed here. So, the Interfaith Center, Prism Center, Mosaic Intercultural Center, and Women's and Gender Equity Center. These folks are huge support to you as you're here on campus. They do host a ton of different events um, welcome back barbecues right off the for you typically the first or second week of the semester. And there's a really great opportunity to meet, um, and the staff as well as see these spaces during new student orientation, during their open houses. Um, again, super welcoming, great place to connect, so be sure to check those out, um, when you get on campus here. All right. So, looking for more ways to get involved, um, we want to talk about week of welcome. I did mention earlier that our UPB and campus programs really do run our week of welcome. Um, this year we have a ton of opportunities for students to be involved in. Um, it starts literally the day you get on campus here, um, a few technically it's the first day of classes, but from the time you get on campus you're being engaged, um, and it's a welcome. Uh, but the actual week of welcome will start with Catamount Kickoff, um, uh, during new student orientation, and then run through Labor Day. So, um, be on the lookout for all those events. That QR code there does bring you to, um, some of the events we have planned, but some of the big ones I know right now are like coffee on the commons, where you can literally get free coffee right uh, behind the Davis Center out on the green area. We have an art attack event, a friendly feud this year, um, our pub quiz, um, they're doing a block party this year outside of our Royal Tyler Theater. That should be a ton of fun. Uh, trip to the Champlain Valley Fair during college night, um, and there's so much more. So, again, please check out that link right there, uh, uvmboard.com/wow. So, check that out. Um, and I can't forget to mention we also will have our, uh, world famous, as I'm calling it, the Labor Day Comedy Show. Um, it is one of our traditions that students look forward to every year, and that announcement should be coming very, very soon. So, be on the lookout for that. Um, but again, check out the link for more events that we have available. Another area, like I mentioned already, is our Activity Fest. Um, Activity Fest typically happens on the second week of classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. And this happens both semesters. So, at the start of fall and the start of spring semester. They all are themed out. So, on Tuesday we'll have our arts and arts and performance, recreation and leisure, club sports, Wednesday's academic and affinity, and career, religious, and spiritual. And Thursday is our environmental service, media, and outdoor political wellness student organizations that will be there. So, be sure to check those out. If you do miss the activity fest, don't worry. It is not your only opportunity to join a club or organization on campus. You can stop by the Galaxy SGA Galaxy space or even stop by the Student Life Office and we can 100% help you get connected. At the activity fest, it really is a good opportunity just to get to know the clubs though. Just to find out what they're about, sign up even if you have a remote interest, go to their first club meeting, find out if it's for you. It does sometimes take students a little bit to really find their niche and find out what's going to be um best interest for them, but definitely explore. That's what college is all about. So, check out many of those different RSOs that we have during activity fests. And then I can't forget to mention we do have UVM Bored. UVM Bored are really the eyes and ears of our campus. They know everything that is going on. I kid you not, if you would ask somebody who works for UVM Bored, they're going to know all the events. They do have, as I mentioned already, a robust event calendar for both on-campus events and things in the greater Burlington area. So, if you are like, "Hey, it's Saturday, what do I want to do?" There's so many opportunities for you to be able to check that out. So, check out Bored. We also have a blog on there where we'll talk about events and and things that are happening. So, definitely check out that. And they do a lot of tabling opportunities. They do have a claw machine. Yes, you can see it in the picture here. So, you can win some free giveaways, stickers, prizes. But yeah, UVM Bored, they are our favorites. All right. So, that is sort of my spiel that I have sort of about our involvement here opportunities for students. I do want to mention again, we do have our Q&A feature that is here in the chat. So please make sure that you are asking the questions there. At this time I'm going to stop sharing my screen and I'm going to ask our fabulous student panel to join us and have them turn on their cameras and their mics. We're going to get started with some questions for them that we have. So I'll give them a minute to turn on those cameras. Amazing, amazing. All right. So we're going to start off with Oneda. If you just want to introduce yourself, kick us off and then we'll do introductions of the rest of our panelists. >> Yeah, hi guys. My name's Oneda Lepe. I'm from Johnstown, Colorado. I'm going into my senior year and I'm a biology major with an ASI minor and yeah. >> Amazing. So real quick Megan, real quick. For folks who for view purposes, if you click the view button at the top and change your view to speaker view, you're going to see each of the panelists as they're speaking. So that might help you out a little bit more. So feel free to switch to that if you would like to. But now I'm going to turn it over to Megan for her introduction. >> Hi everyone. My name is Megan and I'm originally from Minnesota. I'm now a senior nursing student here at UVM with a minor in Spanish as well as emergency medical services. >> Amazing. And then Taylor, feel free to introduce yourself. >> Everyone, I hope your summers are going well. My name is Taylor Sites. I use she/her pronouns. I'm from Buffalo, New York and I'm a rising senior which is absolutely wild. I feel like I was in your shoes yesterday. But I'm studying biomedical engineering and I have a minor in chemistry. >> All right. So, kicking off our first question, this is going to be for you Anaya to start off. Can you tell us about what your involvement on campus looks like today and how you got there? How was that journey for you? What what led you to what you're involved in today? >> Yeah, so one of my major involvements, I am the chair of UPB, of the University Program Board. Um, I actually signed up on a whim. Um, very last minute actually. It was the day the deadline was due. I finished that deadline. Um, but I have regretted nothing since. I have I'm also a part of the Philharmonic Orchestra. I play the violin. Um, I love it. I've always loved music. So, I just I knew I wanted to do something with that. Um, and then I'm also part of the pre-vet club. Um, just that goes with my ASL minor. I I love animals. I love learning about new things all the time. And I'm also part of Alianza and First Gen at UVM. Um, First Gen at UVM I did like a pre-orientation program. Um, I really really loved it. They are one of like my solid community members here at UVM. Like I talk to almost every single one of them every day. Same thing with Alianza. Um, I feel like it's important to have the identity centers at UVM especially as a a person of color on a predominantly white campus. Um, it really did help me find my place overall I would say. >> I love that and that is a plethora of things that you're involved in. I don't know how you manage it on top of taking classes. You do that, right? Correct? You're in classes? Okay, that's what I figured. All right. All right, Megan, feel free to um, same question to you. Tell us about your involvement looks like on campus and then how did you get where you are today? >> Yeah, um, I'd say my biggest involvement right now is I work for Outdoor Programs as a logistics coordinator. So, I'm doing all of the logistics um, for our pre-orientation program called Trek. So, I'm very excited to welcome a lot of new students onto campus with that. Um, and it's very outside of my nursing realm which I really enjoy because sometimes I don't want to be in the hospital all day, every day, so that's been a really good break. Um but I'm also a big part of our Reformed University Fellowship, which is a uh faith group on campus. I'm a part of the band. Um same as Anaya, I just needed something musical in my life. And I think a lot of the ways that I find these different clubs and organizations is I think to myself, "Oh, you know, I'm kind of missing music in my life. Let me find something to fix that." Or I I was really big into riding horses, and I wasn't really getting that, so then I joined one of the equestrian teams that we have on campus, and so I'm a part of that now. And I've met a lot of people through that. Um and I'm also part of just a bunch of different little clubs. Like I love to Nordic ski, so I found my Nordic ski community, my telemark skiing community. Um just a bunch of little clubs like that. >> Love it. Love that you stay involved. That's amazing. And then Taylor, same question to you. What does your involvement look like on campus, and how did you get to where you are today? >> Yeah, so my main involvement is with Alpha Chi Omega, which is a Panhellenic sorority in which I'm currently the president. Um besides that, which that takes up a majority of my time. Um I'm really involved in Camp Kesem, which is a nonprofit camp for children who whose parents are affected by cancer. Um and which is actually happening in a few weeks, the camp, which I'm very excited for. Um and I'm also a part of an RSO that me and some of my friends in within my major started for biotechnology, which has been a really interesting experience starting an RSO, and I recommend anyone who's sees that there's like a need for some sort of club to be started on campus to go ahead and start that initiative, because it actually was surprisingly easy. Um UVM really encourages you to start um organizations, and it was a really fun process. And besides that, I'm pretty involved in research on campus. Um and I do a lot for the College of Engineering and Math Sciences. And yeah, I mean, I feel like if you told me when I was a freshman that I would be this involved, I would say how? Like, how do you have time for all of that? Um and it really just comes out of passion. I remember like the career fair freshman year and signing up for maybe 20 clubs and I'm still on the email list for all of them, whether I attend them or not. You know, not not the case, but you just sort of find where what your community is and what your people are from putting yourself out there. >> Amazing. All right, this question can be for either of the three of you. We're going to talk a little bit about misconceptions that students might have about getting involved on campus. So, what do you think is one of the bigger or biggest misconceptions students have about getting involved? And you can think back to your days or it could just be experiences from your peers as well. >> Yeah, um I can start off if that's okay. Um I would I feel like at least for me one of my big misconceptions is kind of like what involvement kind of can look like. You don't when you're involved in something that doesn't necessarily mean that like it has to take up your entire life and you have to put so much time into it and you have to like be the leader and you have to be on the e-board and you have to like being involved can be what whatever you want it to mean and like however you enjoy it. You know what I mean? Especially like for my music groups like Megan was saying. Um like I'm not on the e-board. I'm not finding music. I'm not conducting the pieces. Like I'm just there playing and I'm having a great time and I love spending time around with my other peers. Um so, I think that was definitely like one of the biggest misconceptions that I felt like. I felt like I was doing something wrong, but there's no wrong way to do it. It's very much your college experience and what you make of it. So, that that's my biggest one at least to start off. >> One of the biggest misconceptions that I had was like when I first was applying to colleges, this was kind of the smallest school I was applying to. So, I thought that I was going to run out of people to meet. Um and I think that some people think that, you know, our campus can feel very small and connected in a great way. Um but I truly am still meeting new people to this day by putting myself out there and trying new things. And so, the community is just ever growing. It really It never You never run out of new people to meet and new things to try because we do have so many clubs and so many different communities within those that I think for me it was I thought, "Oh, I'm just going to I'm just going to know everybody." But I don't. And I'm always meeting new people and finding new smiling faces to talk to. >> Yeah, I agree with everything that's been said. I think when I was a freshman, my biggest concern was balancing um club life with my academics. Um that prevented me from actually joining a lot of organizations that I was interested in my freshman year just because I was so focused on, you know, doing well in school that I thought I wouldn't have any time to do anything outside of that. But then I actually saw that when I started to get more involved in organizations like my sorority and joining different clubs that my grades actually improved. And I think a lot of that is because I just had better mental health. I was spending more time with my friends. I was making more friends. Um And if you care about something, there's always you always will have time for it. And so, I would I wouldn't let that get in the way. In fact, I would encourage you to carve time out of your schedule for um student life. >> Amazing. Now, I might I don't think I'm wrong about this. All three of you are seniors, correct? Oh my, wild. All right. So, now you're you're getting ready for your next steps, which could be your next could be your career, whatever it might be next for you. So, my question for each of you is what role has campus involvement played in helping you figure out either your career path or some personal interests of yourself that you have. >> Yeah, so I know I brought up the pre-vet club and that might make you think oh I'm going pre-vet but I actually still don't know. Um but my other campus involvements have actually taught me a lot more about like communication skills, what I want to be like as a leader and how more like I kind of want to carry myself as a person which I know I'm going to take into my future occupations, whatever that may be. Um and that's something that I've really like held near and dear to my heart as I've like seen myself grow. It's kind of been like satisfying to see like where I've started and like now where I am now. Um and I also feel like um like throughout these like with my with my involvement within UPB and like now becoming chair holding this like big leadership role and like overseeing so many things. Um I feel like I've gained just like a lot of skills and how far connections can really get you not only with like faculty members but with other students. Like word of mouth does get you far and like word of mouth only gets so far if you know that many people, you know what I mean? And I feel like this is just like this job has really been a way for me to make as many friends as possible and it not be weird at all. Not that making friends is weird but like I can talk to as many people as I can and nobody's going to be mad. >> [laughter] >> Um I have been able to be a part of a lot of outdoor things with my role both as outdoor program services coordinator but then also taking um leadership classes um through outdoor programs or I did my WOFA through UVM which is Wilderness First Response and then I also got to take something um a little bit further than that which is Austere Emergency Response and all of these involvements have really helped me view how I look at my nursing career because a lot of the time when I first started I was just thinking I'm just going to be in a hospital all day every day, maybe a clinic. But being exposed to all these on-campus opportunities has really shown me that I can take my nursing skills into the outdoors. You know, there's so many roles for people to hold outside or, you know, in rural locations or at certain events, being paramedic at, you know, mountain bike races or something crazy like that. Um, and just being exposed to all of that has really helped shape how I view nursing going forward. I think that's it. >> Yeah, I would say that um, getting involved in on-campus work through like my College of Engineering has like entirely shaped my career goals in a way that I wasn't anticipating when I went into college. So, I would um, suggest anything that you're somewhat interested in, you should pursue that path because you never know where it's going to take you. Um, you don't know where you'll find your passion until you get involved in that sort of thing. Um, but just in terms of my club involvement, it really has developed so many soft skills that have been really interesting to see grow in myself. Um, just in terms of confidence, like I wouldn't be able to speak to I don't I I struggled with public speaking before, but now I speak to a room of like 150 people once a week while I'm at school, and I don't even think twice about it. In fact, I'm usually laughing during it. Um, and just all the like accountability, responsibility, um, I felt that really develop over the past year as president of Alpha Chi Omega and in KSM. Um, and I wouldn't have really developed those as strongly. Now that I'm doing an internship this summer, I'm really grateful that I've had the chance to develop those before I started this cuz I see exactly how they translate into um, the world after college. So, yeah. >> It's the best part of being involved, those skills that you gain that you didn't know you were going to get from them. So, it's just so huge hearing it from the three of you and seeing how much you've learned from your experiences is just commendable. Um, switching gears a little bit to advice, um, what advice would you give to somebody who feels nervous to put themselves out there? As I kind of mentioned earlier in the presentation, people are excited to make friends, but most nervous about making friends as well. So, um, feel free to give us some advice on that. >> Yeah. Um, so I know this might sound a little daunting at first, but it no matter what you do, no matter what you're going to be joining, it's going to be uncomfortable and it's going to be nerve-wracking and you kind of have to lean into that and realize everyone is feeling uncomfortable. Everyone is nervous about what they're doing, where they are, like at how they're being perceived. And once you kind of like get past that and like realize everyone is in the same boat, it's a lot easier to enjoy what you're doing. And also just like join clubs you know you're going to enjoy. If you're really passionate about Pokémon Go, we have a club for that. Go catch your Pokémon. You know, like if whatever whatever your passion is, I promise you we have a club and if we don't, you can make it. Like again, everything is just like what you make it to out to be, so um, just really really just put yourself out there, I guess, which isn't great advice, but lean into the uncomfortableness and realize that this new experience is new for everyone and you're going to be just fine, I promise. >> Um, for me, one of the best sets of advice that I got when I came here was to just like master the cold hello of just, you know, turning to your neighbor next to you and saying, "Hey, how are you?" or you know, give them a compliment. It's just a good way to break the ice and start a conversation. Um, you can do that in class, you can do that with your academic or non-academic hobbies or clubs, you know, whatever. But, I also found that when I was starting new things, it really helped me to go into the space alone, whereas for a lot of my friends, they really liked going into a new space with a buddy. And so, you know, try both of those things. Go into something with a friend and see how that feels. Try doing something on your own, um, because it might just work one way or the other better for you and you're able to kind of explore that space with the comfort of a friend or with the comfort of knowing that no one knows you there. If you decide you don't like it, you can always just leave. >> Yeah, I would say that the piece of advice that stuck that has stuck with me the most throughout my college journey is that you get out exactly what you put in. Um, I always thought or when I was a freshman I thought um, going to these club meetings for the first time that I was going to automatically feel right at home. Um, and that wasn't always the case. It took, you know, showing up for a semester, um, even a year for some organizations that I really felt like I reaped the benefits and that um, some some organizations I felt like I really was a part of the community from the beginning, but for some of them it took some time and I'm so grateful that I stuck with it because it's really allowed me to grow as a person and you know, gain such important friendships in my life. Um, and I also would say don't limit yourself before you try something. Again, there are a lot of opportunities that I thought I wouldn't have time for and I just said, well, I'll see if I do after I try it and that's worked out for me. So, I would say just be open to try new things and see how if it's in your schedule and um, be willing to show up for organizations and see how much it affects your life. >> All solid advice and and really messages put yourself out there, try new things. It's okay to be a little nervous, but um, definitely some stellar advice there. Before we get to our our last question here, I did want to remind folks too, we do have the Q&A feature in this chat or in this um, our our meeting today. So, feel free to use the Q&A to ask any questions. Um, wanted to also ask Shawn, who we mentioned at the beginning, our marketing coordinator. Um, Shawn, do we have any questions that we want to ask our amazing panelists here? And if not, I have more. I just wanted to throw it out there. >> Uh yes. Um we have a couple here and I'm happy to jump to those if you'd like or we can wait till after yours. >> No, no. That'd be great. We're going to save our last question for the end then. Yeah, that'd be great. Wonderful. >> All right. Um and yeah, please feel free to ask some more. We have uh time. So, uh definitely feel free to ask more in the Q&A section. Um okay, so two questions here that I think maybe worth chatting about. Um the first was just about the timing of Week of Welcome events and whether a lot of them are during classes or if you know, there's opportunity for people to pop by. And I was wondering, Anida, would you be willing to give like a a brief Week of Welcome spiel? >> Oh, but of course. We're doing all this work. So, um we do have some events that are during class. It's not like necessarily like during class. Like not everyone has class during that point. We do a plethora of events throughout the day. So, we do have some well within the night as well or some early morning on your way to class, like coffee on the commons where you can get maybe free swag. I don't know. Put that in your calendars. Um but we we try to keep it like balanced out so that everyone can get a chance to go to all the events. We also do have events going well into the weekend. Um which we know that it's Labor Day weekend. So, we know people might be going home for the but for the students staying on campus, we do have a lot of events that you guys should also try to go to. Um though if you're worried about like forgetting the events or forgetting the website, don't worry. There's going to be marketing everywhere. Um so, really just look up from your phones. Look around. There's going to be posters. There's going to be you're going to get little door hangers at orientation. There's going to be so many things that they're going to tell you about and you can ask the questions about. Um and you'll probably even see me all the way around. So, keep your eye out. It'll be like a fun fact. You'll be like, "Oh my god, I know her." Um feel free to say hi, too. I love saying hi to people. Um if you cannot tell. But some of the events, just to shout it out, we do have coffee on the commons. We have the library comedy show like they were saying. We have friendly feud which are featuring some of Vermont's best drag queens. They will put on such a great show. It's going to be so much fun. We do have pub quiz, which we hold every week, but this pub quiz is special cuz we get special prizes and it'll be really fun rounds. Um the rounds do change every week as well and you get the chance to win prizes every week at other pub quizzes. These ones are just like special prizes. Um and we do have like like the the Champlain Valley Fair. Sorry, I forgot the name for a second. We do offer free transportation, so don't worry, you don't need a car. We'll get you there. We have a bunch of outdoor activities as well, so we have a tour around Shelburne Farms, which is a beautiful place. You guys should definitely take advantage of that. We also have like a farmer's walk farmer's market walk. I'm so sorry. You get free tote bags, so you can hold all your goodies in there. Um but yeah, and there's a bunch more events, so please stay tuned for all the marketing. I don't want to spoil the surprise yet, but I hope I gave you enough to get you excited. >> [laughter] >> Thank you so much. Um and I just want to add also the tote bags that you get are really cute, so you do want one. I I highly recommend going to that. Um okay, another question that I think would be great for any or all of the panelists. Um someone said that they have never skied before, but they'd really like to try. Um and they're wondering um for someone who's new to the sport, what's the most cost-effective way uh for a UVM student to get to the mountain, get lift tickets, uh beginner lessons, gear, etc. Um I don't know if any of you relate to that experience, but curious what advice you'd give. >> I can hop on this one really quick. Um we have an amazing ski and snowboard club here at UVM, which I'm pretty sure it's just $20 to be a part of the club and this gets you discounted lift tickets. It gets you free transportation to the four closest mountains to UVM every Saturday and Sunday while there's snow, which sometimes lasts longer than other times. Um Um, and then um to get gear, we have a lot of places that can do rentals. Um, there's also just some like Play It Again Sports in town that you can stop at. There's always people that are willing to share gear around campus as well. Um, and then beginner lessons, I know a few mountains offer them. Also, people at UVM love to ski and they love to share their knowledge of skating. So, they will happily take you out on the mountain for your first ski, um, and take you down the bunny hill and teach you how to get on the lift um, and all the things. But, we also have a few clubs. Um, I know the Telemark Ski Club. Obviously, Telemark skiing is a very specific type of skiing, but they do $5 Fridays and they'll give you a beginner Telemark ski lesson, um, for just $5 and they'll take you to Cochran's and get you outfitted with a full setup that you don't have to pay for, um, and they're just a really great resource for getting out on the snow as well. Um, and then we also have Nordic skiing, which I said I love to do, um, which is again a different type of skiing, but it's beautiful in its own way in that you're kind of going a bit slower and enjoying the scenery. And so, our uh, Nordic Ski Club is also a great way to get involved. They can get you hooked up with rentals, um, or you can go check out our base camp, which has free um, Nordic ski rentals in the winter. So, lots of different ways to get involved with skiing. Um, but truly, the biggest way, I think, is to just ask your friends, um, who are big into skiing and they'll take you out. >> Awesome. Thank you. Um, if either of you have anything to add to that, feel free to jump in, but I also think that was a that was a great answer, too. Cool. Um, okay. I think that's the only the only kind of questions like that feel >> Yeah. >> panelist adjacent. Um, but if you have others, please feel free to ask in the Q&A section. >> Um, I'm going to have a question for you, Taylor, specifically. Not to put you on the spot, but we do have sorority recruitment that is happening very soon. Um, recruit sign-ups are already happening now, um, and it will happen very quickly because it does take place the first week of the semester and into our first weekend. So, can you just kind of give us a snapshot of what your experience has been like for sorority recruitment in case folks are interested in getting involved, and those interested in fraternity recruitment, we can get you more information as well. The sorority timeline is just much shorter timeline to be able to join. >> Yeah, of course. Recruitment is one of my favorite things to talk about, and I can say all of um FSL is so excited for every recruitment that's happening. Um, I can share like my experience when I went through formal recruitment. I went through as a freshman, and I went through solely because my roommate was going through it, and it seemed like the fun thing to do. Um, but I was really nervous. I'm the first person in my family to go to college, and therefore I'm the only one in my family to go through any sort of um, sorority recruitment. And so, all that I knew about it was what I saw on the internet, and when I joined college, that was Alabama rush. And I was like, well, this is not probably going to end well for me. Um, but immediately, as soon as I entered, um, like the welcome room, there's like a meeting before formal recruitment actually starts, where they just introduce what it's going to look like. I I knew that, um, this was going to be a positive experience, and that it's just much more down-to-earth and much more authentic. Um, and that really rings true for all recruitment, um, for Greek Life organizations at UBM. It's very authentic and genuine, no frills. You're not expected to buy any new outfits. You're supposed to just use what you already have on hand. Um, and that was really important to me. I knew that, um, I was being recruited for the right reasons, and therefore I was able to be my best self. Um, and it is definitely a nerve-racking experience, but something that's worth knowing is that the recruiters are very nervous, too. Like, it goes both ways. Um, but it really it was such a positive experience for me, and it's absolutely shaped my entire college experience, and I would recommend that if you you have any interest in it, um, to definitely sign up. We have formal recruitment in the fall for Panhellenic sororities, and that's where you get to meet each sorority individually. Um, and there are options for recruitment in the spring, but usually they're more limited, so I would really encourage you signing up for the fall recruitment if you have any interest. And then I can speak for the fraternity side of things. It looks a bit bit differently, and they usually have recruitment both semesters for all chapters. Um, so you have a bit more flexibility there, but I would say if you're interested in Panhellenic recruitment, you should definitely sign up. Um, it's in all of the sororities' bios on Instagram, and I would 100% follow UVM Panhel on Instagram, and any sororities and all, um, just so you can see what they're up to. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> um, sorry, Jared. >> No, go ahead. >> We had a question related to recruitment, and you sort of just touched on it, but I was just wondering if there were any other additional things you might add. So, someone was saying, um, someone was considering rushing in the second semester, um, and I think this is specifically for a fraternity, although I think either, um, would be helpful. Um, what are the downsides of waiting until the second semester, uh, to to rush or to join? >> Yeah, I would say I was very grateful that I did it my fall freshman semester because off the bat I had a community of people who were exact in the same exact position as me who I met with more than once a week. And so automatically I had new faces on campus, I had friends on campus and that was just really nice being able to see what 100 people on campus that I could wave to and smile at and knew that they knew me. And it did immediately make me feel at home. Um For the Panhellenic side, that's not as much of an option in the spring since the option is continuous open bidding and that's more dependent on where each individual's chapters roster numbers are at. And so it's not guaranteed that any or all chapters will be recruiting in the spring. So I would say if you're interested in Panhellenic recruitment, definitely sign up for in the fall. For fraternity recruitment, I think there's definitely a benefit to waiting to the winter just because it may be nice to get settled on campus and you know, feel confident in your workload and gain friends outside of that sphere. However, in my experience I was really grateful that I joined in the fall because I just gained a community off the bat. And that didn't mean that I didn't make friends outside of that sphere. My dorms really allowed me to meet so many different people from so many different backgrounds that I'm still very close friends with to this day. So there's pros and cons to both sides, but I think either way you can't go wrong. >> Yeah, I mean Taylor, you nailed that question.