New students welcomed into residential colleges

A bright, albeit wet, start
New students welcomed into residential colleges

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News staff

The hot Houston rain didn’t dampen new students’ excitement to be at Rice or fog photographers’ ability to capture those moments. In fact, those who believe a picture is worth a thousand words are in luck — the Rice News has photos aplenty of O-Week activities at http://media.rice.edu/media/2008_O-Week.asp.

The new Rice students — the Centennial Year Class — were given a welcome fitting of the close-knit community they are now a part of.

	TOMMY LAVERGNE
	During O-Week, new students met with professors for academic advising to plan their courses for the coming year.

The week got off to a bright start when freshmen arrived to a sea of smiling faces and extended arms. O-Week advisers were quick to recognize “their freshmen” to help them unload their family vans and SUVs packed with all the memories and home comforts they could fit on four wheels. Rice football players and coaches even pitched in for the heavy lifting — mattresses, minifridges, couches and impressive shoe collections. 

But the welcome and ease of orientation didn’t end there. The new students were brought into the fold with matriculation; residential college meals; academic advising; a barbecue hosted by Rice University President David Leebron and his wife, University Representative Y. Ping Sun; a Rice rally; Common Reading discussions; and dinner with their college associates.

College associates are faculty, staff and Rice community members who work with residential colleges to provide academic expertise and real-world support for the students. Associates are the extended family of the college system, where college masters and resident associates live and work more closely with students as parental and brotherly/sisterly figures.

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Get a behind-the-scenes look at O-Week Each year, associates are randomly assigned to a small group of new students. During O-Week, the associates and students get to know one another through activities and the associate dinner. In their O-Week groups, the new students go to dinners at the home of one of their group’s associates. They are held throughout the city — Montrose, Pearland, West University, the Heights, Sugar Land — to familiarize students with life outside of Rice.

Though many new students are somewhat shy at first, they begin to open up quickly after introductions are made. Over pool tables, card games and puzzles, they start talking (though at this point many conversations are still prompted by the prying questions of an associate). A student will begin telling a story and sure enough, another will jump in spouting a similar experience. They soon realize they are not as different as they thought — that at Rice, there is a place for them.

Alumni associates will recount their glory days at Rice and share with the freshmen all they have to look forward to. New students get a kick out of hearing about the old college rivalries. The alumni associates will talk about things they should have done and theme parties they should have hosted. But mostly, they’ll talk about the friendships they made, the professors they loved and how Rice made all the difference.

Other associates will sit back and reflect on their own college experiences and wonder, just a little bit, what it would have been like to go to Rice. They see the eager faces of the new students and don’t recognize the nervousness they might have felt. These newbies seem to have it all together.

Not even a week in and the students have made friends and found their home in a network sure to serve them beyond their college days. Such is the result of a well-oiled O-Week and a well-practiced residential college system.

Tonight the students will embark upon a Houston night out and enjoy the city that will be their home for the next four years. Tomorrow, they’ll serve their city for Outreach Day, working with local organizations to respond to the city’s needs, and enjoy the Big Owl Bash at the student center.