"It Takes All of Us": NSO Prepares Students to Become Bearcats
The beginning of a new school year is always an exciting time, especially for students entering their first year in college. It’s a mixture of exhilaration and apprehension, a jangle of nerves that keeps them company in the first few days – even weeks – of school. Strangers in a strange land, they wonder how they’ll make new friends while missing their old ones back home, how they’ll succeed in an all-new school, and how they might combat homesickness at the same time. It’s completely commonplace for students to feel even just a little bit homesick at some point during their first 10 weeks of college.
That’s where NSO comes in.
This engaging program addresses all new students’ needs. NSO doesn’t just help them figure out where their classes are and get them checked into their new residence halls; it also sets them up for long-term success as a Bearcat. What’s more, this entity often finds students answering the call in following years by becoming NSO leaders themselves, cultivating their leadership skills while shepherding incoming classes.
What is NSO at McKendree?
New Student Orientation (NSO) is an annual, mandatory days-long event that is specially designed to assist new students and their families in making a smooth transition from high school to life at McKendree. During this time, new students are given the tools they’ll need to succeed at McKendree, including learning about all of the important resources that the university has to offer like health services, the Student Success Center, and more. The ultimate goal? To help make McKendree the home away from home that students are looking for.
Making the Foreign Familiar
When new students come to McKendree, they aren’t just greeted and given their keys. They’re warmly welcomed and guided step by step through this crucial transition. They meet their peers and the faculty and staff who will teach and mentor them along the way. It isn’t unusual for a group of NSO leaders to cheer and chant “We’ve got a car! We’ve got a car!” each time a parent drives up to the residence halls to drop off their Bearcat at their new home. These same leaders make students and their families feel at home while helping move their belongings and furniture into their new rooms.
After convocation, an event that formally marks their journey as part of the Bearcat family, NSO leaders gather their groups of students together for dinner, socializing, and the Playfair, a team-building event that is often the first way that several students meet their forever friends. Lost in a sea of people, new students laugh and bond with one another over the fun events the Playfair has to offer.
That’s not all. The next day, these students assemble for a group photo outside, attend important panels led by several corners of campus, find comfort through friendly therapy dogs, and enjoy more entertaining evening activities together. The weekend is capped off with the annual highlight, Into the Streets, which gives students an opportunity to learn about and serve our neighbors in our local community. Before classes start, these new Bearcats have the option of going together with their NSO leaders to obtain school supplies, attend a chapel service in Bothwell Chapel, and tour the classrooms before classes begin.
Setting Bearcats Up for Success
These events are specifically made not only to help students know what they can expect at McKendree, but also to point them to pivotal resources that will help them succeed now and throughout their entire academic career as a Bearcat. Beyond giving them the tools to succeed, NSO also introduces them to countless friendly faces, many of whom become lifelong friends.
During this very pivotal time, the campus is permeated with an overwhelmingly positive energy that radiates in everyone who sets foot here – new students, visiting families, returning students, and even seasoned faculty and staff members. Wide, eye-crinkling smiles, peals of laughter, and an infectious joy can be found each August as students make new friends, forge new memories, and find hope and excitement in their futures as Bearcats. Caring faculty and staff guide wayward first-year and transfer students to their classes. Best of all, all of the resources one might need to succeed, including the Student Success and Advising Center, health services, Residence Life, and several others, are overtly and generously laid out like precious gems for the taking.
Learning to Lead, Inspired by the Leaders Before Them
During their first NSO leader meeting on August 19, more than 20 student leaders huddled in PAC, listening intently and taking notes as Director of Campus Activities Craig Robertson led the meeting and reminded them of their ultimate goal: to get new students ready before their first day of classes and help them feel at home at McKendree.
“They’ll have a lot of questions, but we’ll be here for it,” he said.
He reminded these leaders that many students will show signs of homesickness at some point – just as many of them had when they first arrived – and encouraged them to do what they can to help get them acclimated to their new lives as Bearcats. He also shared expectations for their job as student leaders: do the job, be honest, care about each other, and help students get engaged with the campus.
“This is an opportunity for us to make McKendree awesome,” he said. “It takes all of us.”
Continuing the Cycle of Giving by Leading
NSO often has a way of calling students back to lead the newest class of students in their first week at McKendree. These students tend to be inspired by their own NSO leaders, who helped them feel welcomed and seen in their first year at the university.
“I liked my NSO leader and my UNI 101 mentor, and I enjoy communicating and meeting with so many people at NSO,” said senior Maci Meyer, an exercise science and sport performance major who hails from Hubertus, Wisconsin.
Now in her third year as an NSO leader, Maci recalls what it was like to come to McKendree as an out-of-state student.
“This was my first time doing something social like this since the pandemic. I was six hours away from my home, but I saw that I wasn’t alone; in fact, people from across the ocean were here, too. It can be a selfless sort of moment to step back and realize that the world is bigger than you,” she said.
Some students, like Maci, are veteran NSO leaders, including Brooke Junker, a junior and biopsychology major from Belleville, Ill., who is a second-year NSO leader. She chose to lead again because it would help her future resume and allow her to be there for others.
“Being an NSO leader has helped improve my communication skills,” Brooke said.
Others like Giada Macchiaverna, Jenna Beddow, and Rudy Rodriguez Rios are first-time NSO leaders. They chose to lead because they enjoyed their time in NSO as students and wanted to be the ones who made the difference in these new students’ lives.
“I’m from Italy, and I was in my first year in college in America when I did NSO. I was scared of asking questions because my English wasn’t very good,” Giada said. “I was overwhelmed at first, but my group was filled with international students and helped me out a lot. My NSO leader helped me get a job at health services when I told her I wanted to go into medical school. Now, I am a talkative person and want to help first-years get to know the campus and each other.”
Jenna was a transfer student when she experienced NSO as a student. A native of Lake Tappas, Washington, member of the women’s wrestling team, and student ambassador, Jenna chose to become an NSO leader because she saw it as fulfilling.
“There’s something rewarding in sharing your experiences with new students and helping them feel seen,” she said.
For Ruby, she wanted to help people who are from far away feel at home at McKendree.
“I’m from Toppenis, Washington, so I was very homesick and nervous at first, but I put myself out there and found my group of people, which helped because some people were in my classes,” she said. “I want to give these new students the sense that things do get better and that they’ll meet so many great people here. I hope that they know that in spite of the changes they’ll face, it will help them grow as people.”
One common notion rings true with all of these leaders: once students get their feet wet, they are not only successful but also feel like they belong at the university.
“If you’re here long enough, you will LOVE being at McKendree,” Maci said.
