Arturo Juarez, International Relations M.A.2020, shares his experience participating in Orientation Week, one of the campus-wide graduate welcoming events during the beginning of the school year. Orientation offers students resources and social networking opportunities to begin the school year on the right track. Plans for Orientation events in 2021 will be announced soon to incoming students.
What is the University of Chicago Orientation Week?
A great start is important during any transition, especially when starting at the University of Chicago. Great starts look different for everyone. For me, Orientation Week was one thing that helped cultivate and create a community during my time as a graduate student. Orientation Week starts the first week before the Autumn Quarter and began with a Welcome Convocation at Rockefeller Chapel, followed by lunch and an Informational Fair along with a Graduate Student Social where you can learn about all the resources and supports available at the University of Chicago and connect with people from throughout campus.
What are some of the benefits of attending Orientation?
The greatest benefit of Orientation is that it is one of the few moments where all the resources and services available to you are under one roof. Furthermore, Orientation Week also provides the social environment to begin to connect with students inside and outside of your cohort and learn how to navigate campus.
Why is it important to connect with people on campus?
A strong start to your academic journey here as a graduate student can mean building relationships with people outside of your cohort. First, you may find that your interests, and the interest of other members from your cohort may not always align, especially when it comes to hobbies or interests outside of academia. Whether you’re into the outdoors, cooking, board games, concerts, city nightlife, or running around the lake in Chicago, you may find that other members within your cohort do not share these interests. Therefore, relationships outside of your cohort can support the balance of being a stellar student, but also a whole person with other non-academic interests and hobbies.
What is your greatest takeaway from Orientation?
Attending events and establishing connections with others inside and outside your cohort during Orientation will start you on a good path towards building the community of support that you will need during your time as a graduate student. Nothing happens in isolation; other people, whether friends, peers, or colleagues, help contribute to your success. Graduate school will test all of us in many ways, and having a community of other like-minded individuals, who intimately and in real time know what you’re going through, can go a long way toward refilling your perseverance reservoirs when they are running low. Therefore, make sure to seek out and build community. Don’t be afraid to seek this outside of your cohort, and don’t be afraid to ask for help from centers, clubs, and organizations when you need it.
For more information about University of Chicago Graduate Student Orientation planning for 2021, check out https://grad.uchicago.edu/life-at-uchicago/graduate-student-orientation/. Additionally, don’t forget to check out your specific department/school of interest’s website for their specific orientation activities.