"On my first day of Chapman University Orientation in August 2018, I was terrified. I had always been a homebody, and here I was, moving 7 hours away from my hometown of Seaside, CA. It was the first time I'd gone to a different school than my identical twin sister. Two other girls from my high school were joining me at Chapman, but I didn't know them very well. Once my parents left, I would be alone, and I was not ready for that. As a Creative Writing major, I was already a bit of an introvert, too.
All that fear went away as soon as we drove onto campus. We made our way into the Jim Miller parking structure for move-in, and the Orientation Leaders were screaming their heads off and having so much fun that my mother turned to me and said, "You should do that next year." As I met more OLs and saw them enjoying Orientation, I agreed, so the next three years, I became an OL.
Throughout the week, all the OLs, teachers, and administrators were so thrilled to welcome me to Chapman and help me feel as eager and optimistic as they were. Their enthusiasm was contagious, and when my parents left after the second day and I went to Playfair, the event completely cheered me up and made me so excited for my next four years here. Without Orientation, I would have been shy and scared for the first few weeks of school, and I doubt I would have met the friends whom I later became roommates with and now consider to be some of my favorite people."
- Tara Mann
"Hi, everybody! My name is Paige Ye, and I am a rising junior here at Chapman studying Piano Performance with a minor in Economics. Just a little over two years ago, I was feeling very overwhelmed with the college selection process. I debated about my decisions until the very last minute and was very skeptical whether I had made the right choice. I was excited to be starting a new chapter in my life, but also questioning the path I had chosen.
However, all my worries dissipated when I moved in. There were OLs everywhere to help guide us in the right direction, and everyone was so enthusiastic and welcoming. It was during O-Week that I met my music major colleagues for the first time, and some of my best friends. It's comforting to realize that everyone is in the same boat as you - we're all just trying to make friends. My favorite Orientation event was without a doubt, Playfair. Never have I felt so bonded with such a large group of people in such a short amount of time. It was such a surreal experience, and I look forward to being a part of it once again.
I knew from O-Week, I had found my new home for the next four years. I'm proud to call myself a Panther and am so excited to welcome everybody!"
- Paige Ye
"University’s Orientation week! I had an amazing orientation week and made memories that I still remember till today that I am so grateful for, that I wanted to share with all of you to show a glimpse of what o-week may look like for you. Before going into my experiences, I would like to introduce myself. I was born in Japan and moved to Honolulu, HI when I was three years old, which is where I was raised. I’m majoring in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing with a minor in Japanese Studies. On-campus I’m currently involved in a professional co-ed business fraternity called Alpha Kappa Psi and I am on the executive board as Brother Analyst. I am also in the Nikkei Student Union Club and the Volunteer Admission team. When coming to Chapman, I was very nervous yet excited because this was my first time being so far away from my home and family in Hawaii. Being from Hawaii, all the people attending Chapman from Hawaii have met up prior to flying to California and we had a group chat so it was nice to know that there would be familiar faces in a foreign place. A few things that did make me nervous was the thought of whether I was going to find a group of friends that I can call my best friends. From middle school to the end of high school, I had the same group of friends. So not having my best friends with me and having that security of always having people to be with or sit with definitely was scary. But after the first few hours of orientation week, that worry completely disappeared.
One of the first things I remember doing on the first day of orientation was going to one of the classrooms on campus and being put into a randomly assigned group by major. Everyone in my group were business majors, so we all lived in the same dorm building as for my year, dorms were separated by major/school. And that is where I found out four people in my orientation group actually lived on my floor and were my neighbors. I definitely recommend exchanging numbers, Snapchat, Instagram, and anything you can to keep in contact with everyone you meet during O-week because you may end up being in the same classes and it’s an amazing way to network and make connections. Another event that I remember vividly is running onto the football field where everyone in the class of 2023 was. We did activities to meet more people that were not in my major. The nervous jitters were all gone that everyone was having so much fun with smiles on their faces and it was the best way to end the night. Currently, the people I met during orientation week are a few of my closest friends at Chapman and have made my experience so amazing that I always have positive memories when thinking of orientation week. And I hope yours will be spectacular in your own way as well."
- Monika Maeda