It may feel like time has gone by quickly for some students (I know it has for me), but it has only been a few weeks since Welcome Weekend wrapped up and now that it’s over questions linger about how it went for the first-years.
Well as a first-year, I think it went perfectly. When I got my first email talking about Welcome Week, I will admit, I kind of groaned and rolled my eyes. I assumed it’d be a weekend of mandatory and frankly boring lectures about safety and campus policy. Instead, I was met with my enthusiastic PMAC who was ready to help me out when I needed it.
After moving in, I was absolutely wiped and didn’t know if I’d be able to stand the next day, yet after a good breakfast and much-needed caffeine, I had my first meeting with my First Year Seminar group where I met my class and my PMAC. While the setup of our first FYS meeting was a bit of a nightmare in terms of actually finding our group, once I got there it was kind of nice. Meeting new people after four years of the same faces everyday was refreshing.
We got to listen to our first Jerry Parker speech, which was nothing short of miraculous. All of the first-years, myself included, got our look at what an absolute legend Jerry Parker truly is. I can confidently say I’ve never heard someone turn a story about them losing their temper with their child into a pep talk, so for me that was a first. When we were walking over my PMAC could only say positive things about Jerry Parker, I could have sworn she was his own personal hype woman.
When we sat down to listen to the speech, I wasn’t really interested. I thought I had heard every single commencement speech there could ever be, but this was different. He was engaging and funny which was vastly different from any other speech I’ve heard. Even though it was early in the morning it wasn’t easy to fall asleep with how energetic he was. I honestly felt inspired by him and his story, especially his message throughout the speech, “Go DU it!”, something that will follow me throughout my first year here at Drake.
After the commencement speech and a lot of frankly boring meetings about classes we had the first FYS open collaboration that Drake has ever held. I had no idea that these collaborations were new, but I was impressed with how fun they were. I remember in my group we played hot seat. While I don’t remember all of the details, I do remember being in the hot seat. After watching the PMACs demonstrate a couple times, I went to the front of the lecture hall and sat on a desk chair for a minute or two while people spitball questions until the timer went off. After that a few other people played before it was time to leave.
Once we left our First Year Seminar collaboration, we were released onto campus for our first real look at life on campus. There were different opportunities for new students to find connections. from soccer games, to SAB tie dye on Helmick Commons, to Cards Against Humanities, I sat down at a tarp not knowing anyone there and wound up finding something to do. I even got to take a souvenir back to my dorm.
A rousing seminar on consent, which had people quoting it for a week or two afterward, was followed by the Drake traditions carnival, which I found a bit boring since I heard about most of what was there on my tour as a junior in high school. But what wasn’t boring was the seminar on navigating our college journey, which in my mind cemented Ben Connolly’s icon status among the School of Education students.
Afterwards we finally got to meet our FYS professor which, at least in my group, was hilarious. Getting to watch one student list more than 10 facts about himself because he didn’t understand that the more toilet paper he took, the more facts he had to list was a very entertaining scene. Finally, we ended the day with a rec night and a relaxing movie night, which really helped me wind down after all the excitement of the day.
Finally we arrived at the last day of Welcome Weekend, and we were able to go do our own things during the Choose Your Own Adventure segment of the day. I hung around the karaoke stage while I waited for my Build-A-Bulldog timeslot, and I have to say I’ve never seen such a supportive group of students. I was moved so much I almost went to sign up, but instead I went to Upper Olmstead to build my first, but certainly not my last, bulldog. After one final meeting with my FYS before classes started, we all went to Hubbell for a tailgate barbeque, which was surprisingly not bad for a Hubbell barbeque.
Finally, we ended the night, and simultaneously Welcome Weekend, with what can only be described as a pep rally for the ages. Between learning the bulldog chant and seeing Griff II on a golf cart, it was by far one of the best moments of Welcome Weekend. Overall this first-year had a great time and while some things may not have been as fun as others, it was still a great weekend all around, and I look forward to possibly helping out with it in the coming years.
