So I got back from my AOP (Academic Orientation Program) yesterday! It was a ton of fun! Because I live about an hour and a half away from campus, and I was driving myself (aka increasing the chances of getting lost), so I left at about 7, since check-in was at 9.
The whole experience was amazing. The drive was so easy from where I live that I had absolutely no trouble getting there, thankfully. And while I can't bring a car on campus the first year, at least I know the trip will be so incredibly simple!
After I parked, one of the AOP staff led us down to where the program would actually take place, at Case Hall. Now, I'm going to be living in the East Neighborhood, most likely in Akers Hall, but I wish that I had been placed at Case. That is how much I loved that building. It was recently renovated (well, I'm not sure if that was just the cafeteria or the dorms, too) and it looks great compared to some of the dorms in the East that we got to go into.
After checking in (where we got our personal schedule for the day, a linen package (sheets, blanket, towels), and our One Book, One Community book, Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo), everyone got to go up to their dorm, drop off their stuff, and then come down to take their ID picture.
The dorm was actually bigger than I had thought it would be (although that's not saying much... My room at home was previously a storage room, so it's tiny), with two beds, two desks, two chairs, a dresser with four drawers and then another dresser-style thing with one drawer and a couple of shelves. My bed was lofted super high, way up to the ceiling. I'm only 5'1" and have no ability to climb the non-existent ladder, so I had to ask the front desk to have the bed lowered. When maintenance got there, apparently, the beds had been lowered and raised several times over the summer.
Anyways! After that, I went to get my ID taken (it looks awful, unfortunately), then there was a "bookstore fair" where all the bookstores on campus were gathered in a room and handed out flyers and such. It was very fast paced, but after the three or four minutes of that, everyone got to just chill in the cafeteria area and get acquainted. It's an awesome experience because, since everyone is new and mostly doesn't know anyone, they can all meet new people. Normally, I'm shy as can be, but I stopped, introduced myself to a girl sitting alone in one of the booths, and ended up making a great friend who I got to hang out with all through AOP. So at AOP, or at any orientation, branch out. I was nervous that she would be mean or something, but it all worked out great. And if it didn't, no big deal. Just get up and find someone else to hang out with.
We got to chat and talk about school and college for about half an hour, and then we were moved to the Auditorium (like, a three minute walk) for a lecture and overview of the program. Not bad! It was fun, and took about half an hour before we went back to Case and received another lecture, this time grouped by our major, and learned about the requirements of our major and such. Then lunch!!
Ideally, this would be a picture blog, but I really didn't even think about taking out my camera, because I was having a lot of fun. Case's dining hall was recently renovated and it looks AWESOME. I know at Akers, it's just lines of hot bars (kind of like a buffet) and then boring tables and chairs scattered through the room. But if you can find pictures of Case, it's awesome. Completely decorated, lots of booths with comfortable chairs, and service areas, where the chefs are actually cooking and serving in front of you. There were 5 venues. First was S2, a salad bar with fresh ingredients and a ton of options that supposedly also served sushi, although they didn't have it when I was there. Brimstone Grille, which served grilled items like burgers and such. Bliss, which served desserts, mostly cake, pie, and cookies when I was there. Ciao!, which served pizza, subs, and sandwiches, although I only tried the pizza. And finally, Great Lakes Plate. I didn't really eat anything there, but for lunch I *think* they had a taco bar. There was also a little self-serve station that had "fresh" fruit (I say that because it could be fresh or it could have been canned), cereal dispensers, bagels and donuts, and soft-serve ice cream!
So, lunch was good. It was very loud because there were just so many people at the AOP, but it was really nice and a good experience. After that, it depended on your personal schedule to see what you'd do. I went on to an enrollment presentation, where they taught you how to enroll for your own classes (although I'd done that before, because I love to play the "potential classes" game). Then a resource fair where you could go to different booths, like a Greek (sorority/fraternity) booth, MSU police booth, library booth, stuff like that. It was fun and there were a lot of free stuff to pick up, which was a definite plus. Next was academic advising, where students got to meet with an academic adviser (duh) and plan out their schedule for the fall. Mine was a ton of help because I had originally planned on going in as a Pre-Medicine student with an intent to enroll in a Physician Assistant (PA) program after graduating. She told me that going in as Pre-PA was better, because it gave you more skills and you could get into virtually any program afterwards, like Med school, nursing, whatever if I do not get accepted into a PA program. So that was super helpful! There's always horror stories about advisers who have no clue what they're doing, or aren't helpful at all, but she helped me so much, thankfully! I also plan on doing a Minor in Chinese, but that's still undecided.
Anyways, after meeting with the adviser, everyone goes to a computer lab and enrolls for their classes, with AOP staff standing around to help you. I didn't really need help because, as I said, I had played on the site several times, but it was still nice because there were a ton of people who did. That only took until around 3:30, and dinner didn't start until 5, so there was a ton of free time.
Now, how you choose to spend that time is completely up to you. There's air conditioning and free wi-fi in the cafeteria, so lots of people congregated there. Other students went off to map out their classes but it was way hot and sunny, so I did not do that. There was also an open Sparty's that sold snacks and drinks (at ridiculous prices, but since they're the only ones right there in the dorm, I guess they can do whatever they want haha). I spent some time in the cafeteria making friends and using the wi-fi, but ended up leaving to go read in my dorm.
Dinner was the same as lunch, basically all of the meals were similar. Afterwards, everyone headed back to Wilson Auditorium, where there was a presentation on Spartan Geocache, and then we were split into neighborhoods and sent out.
For those who are not familiar with geocache (I wasn't), it was basically like a treasure hunt, without any treasure. I was in a group of about ten, and the AOP tour person who was guiding us would read out hints, and we had to figure out where to go. Along the way, he would point out important buildings and such, so it was a really nice tour, especially since it was my first time on campus. A ton of walking, though, so definitely bring comfortable shoes.
Then there was about an hour and a half of free time, where the staff had set up a bunch of activities in the cafeteria. There was giant Jenga, cards, karaoke, and basically just relaxing. It was a lot of fun, loud of course, and definitely a blast.
The next day was super fast paced. Breakfast was at 7, so it was an early day for everyone. Then back to Wilson Auditorium to hear from a professor and learn how to be successful. Next, people were split by neighborhood again, loaded on a bus, and got to visit the neighborhood they were living in. Finally, after a tour around those buildings, it was time to go back to Case, check out, and go home! Although I didn't head home immediately. (This post is getting a little lengthy though, so I'll post my review of some exciting stuff tomorrow or soon!)
So, what did I think about my first experience at Michigan State University?
It was very, very big. I've only visited one college, Hillsdale College, which is way, way smaller than MSU because it is private and has a much smaller student base. The geocache tour took nearly two hours, and didn't even cover all of campus! I've spent my 17 years in a small town though, so I'm excited to finally branch out, widen my views, and make some new friends.
Another thing was the amount of people. My graduating class was made up of 17 people, including myself, because I attended a small private school in the middle of nowhere. My entire school, which was housed in one building and held grades Kindergarten to 12th grade, had just under 200 people. To compare, the incoming class at MSU is around 8 or 9 thousand students. So yes, it was a completely new experience for me. But I am excited! I am the first graduate from my high school to go straight to Michigan State, and I won't even know anyone (other than some relatives) until the spring semester, when one of my friends will be transferring there.
It is a beautiful campus, though. The grass was brown and dry just like, I suspect, much of Michigan's is because it's been so dry! But I am excited to finally move in and get started as a Spartan!!
Stay tuned. I've got a review on SushiYa, Bubble Island, Oriental Mart (finally!) and Great China Market coming up!
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