As soon as he set foot on the Ole Miss campus for his honors orientation, Ryan Augustine was in awe of his orientation leaders. As an incoming freshman, Augustine knew he wanted to be immersed in the Ole Miss experience.
What better way to do that than to become an orientation leader himself?
Augustine, a Madison, Miss., native, is now an upcoming junior applied sciences major and second-year orientation leader. With a love for supporting incoming students, especially those who are far from home, Augustine said that being an orientation leader is much more than giving tours and teaching people the Ole Miss song.
“When I go in an orientation group, before I go through any resources, I tell them that I understand orientation can be silly, especially when we’re dancing on the stage. But at the end of the day, I didn’t do this solely because I wanted to dance on the stage,” Augustine said. “I did it because I want to be a resource, but I also want to be a friend to them as an incoming student.”
Being an orientation leader doesn’t come without its own set of challenges, though. Augustine said that during his first year in the role, he struggled with the time commitment that accompanies the position.
At the close of the orientation season, Augustine will have helped with 20 orientation sessions. The student described his typical day as starting at 6:45 a.m. to set up for check-in for incoming freshmen. The rest of the day contains a welcome session, two small group discussions, lunch and a networking fair and wraps up at 8 p.m. with social time for students. This year, Augustine was also selected to be an orientation coordinator and has the extra responsibility of helping make the orientation team is bonding.
“It’s something I didn’t really expect because you’re with people all the time, and it’s kind of draining. Sometimes you need to take time for yourself, which I think is very important,” Augustine said. “But, you also have to go the extra effort to make sure that you’re making connections on the team.”
While the majority of students are excited for what may be their first or second day of campus, Augustine said that sometimes it’s a challenge to get students to engage.
“Lots of students, especially if you’re from Mississippi or grew up an Ole Miss fan, think you know everything about the university, and then it’s really discouraging,” Augustine said. “When you’re trying to be a resource and a friend to these students, sometimes it feels like all they think about is Greek life.”
Augustine remembers to reassure himself and sets a goal to get all students involved in the session. He says that getting students involved has so much to do with the energy from orientation staff.
“Typically, I think it starts from the orientation leader. I have this motto I go by that says, ‘If you give them the inch, they’ll go the mile.’ If you don’t care, they’re going to take it all the way if you give them a reason to not respect you or take you seriously,” Augustine said. “So I’m always a big ‘set the standard person.’”
Augustine said that orientation is valuable because it gives students time to connect.
“For a student, I think it’s just a really good way to have connections on campus before coming here. Whether it’s with your orientation leaders or just students in your group. I know from all of the orientations leaders, we would rather see them connect, have friends in their group rather than them be friends with us,” Augustine said.
Being an orientation leader has also helped him hone his people skills, Augustine said.
“You’re going to work with people who you love and have the same personality with, and you’re going to find your closest friends. We’re going to work with people that have kind of opposite personalities, yet I think that you’re going to have to deal with that, right?” Augustine said.
The orientation leader role has also allowed Augustine to find a deeper appreciation for the university.
“I feel like Ole Miss has this culture of care, and you see it from the Southern hospitality, or whatever it may be, but whenever you’re in orientation, you get so close with this group, and at the heart of it, that is what Ole Miss is like,” Augustine said. “This is a place where we come from all different backgrounds, but you’re going to leave here with some of your best friends.”
Augustine advised students to apply to be an orientation leader, even if they’re unsure.
“Step out of your comfort zone. That’s what college is for; you’re meant to step out of your comfort zone. I think it’s really easy to think that orientation is just wearing the polo, putting your nametag on and reading a guide book to help parents, but so much of this experience is also the family and bonding aspect,” Augustine said.
Augustine said that saying goodbye to the bonds that he has made will be difficult.
“You have so much fun from intensive training the first week of May to the final session halfway through July, and having to leave that, it’s just heartbreaking,” Augustine said. “You just grow so much as a person through the summer, and I feel like a lot of people don’t see that.”
