Community at a Distance: Online Orientation amid COVID Closures Words by Ally Buchanan Graphic by Josh Vandenborre
The 2020 school year has started off in many ways completely unrecognizable from the years before it. Campus is deserted, students are attending classes from their bedrooms all over the world, and the events and traditions we’ve become accustomed to have been put on hold. For incoming students, this presents an entirely new collection of obstacles in overcoming distance, isolation, and stress when making the transition into university. Niko Coady, this year’s Orientation Chair, described the challenges in bringing together approximately 800 first-years in an unprecedented online orientation. “I would say the main thing for us was just like, we wanted to make sure that we created a community and that we had a space where incoming students could still feel like they were a part of the community and make friends,” said Coady. Events for the seven-day orientation, dubbed Rise Freddy Beach, were held on Microsoft teams, and consisted of icebreakers, UNB and Shinerama trivia, a coffee house, bingo, yoga, and a comedy night with local comedian James Mullinger. Coady said that the first event, Welcome to Rise Freddy Beach, received the best feedback and participation of this year’s events, with 150 i ncoming students taking part in breakout sessions and icebreakers. Other events received an attendance of approximately 100 students. “Compared to other years, like, we definitely had lower numbers,” said Coady. “But the people who were there were extremely engaged. All the students felt very comfortable, which was really lucky.” During the course of the orientation, Coady was left with the impression that the incoming students had 14
just as much desire for community that her team did, and made use of the technology available to create it in their own ways. “So we’re trying to keep up that online community feeling. They’ve also done it on their own. Like they have a bunch of different group types for like, their programs for their classes. Like they have just like, run with it,” she said. With programming entirely online, the transition to university has become a more individualized experience than in previous years. Kristyn Serniuk, a first-year computer science student who is currently attending UNB from Mississauga, Ontario, found the online orientation “fun and informative” despite the distance. “I thought [orientation was] really good considering it was online,” she said. “The bingo and trivia were really fun. We got a sense of the school community even though we are all far away. I also met a lot of first-years as well!” Despite being appreciative of the programming and communication during her transition to university, Serniuk stated that the orientation fee, which was unchanged from past years, was excessive considering the events offered to her. “I do think considering it was online that it wasn’t worth the fee, but I completely understand as it still took a lot of work and everyone had to adapt,” said Serniuk. “Everyone has to adapt to these new circumstances and that comes with challenges, but there’s been a lot of support and people willing to help make the transition easier, which has been great.”
