Non Traditional Student Event

So, as part of my role as an Orientation leader, we are responsible for putting on several of the events during New Student Week (the week before fall term classes start). Several months ago, we brainstormed ideas, and split into groups based on which activities we wanted to work on. I pushed REALLY hard for some sort of activity that was specifically for students over 30, and even got put up as one of the voting option activities. After the vote, my director came to me and said that I was the only one who wanted to work on this activity, so it wasn't going to be made one of the small group choices. He continued by saying that he felt that this group of students was drastically under-represented and that it's an activity he would like to see happen. He gave me the option of planning and preparing it all on my own... if I wanted to. OF COURSE I DID!!!

So, I brainstormed ideas, talked with all my friends (in all stages of life) and asked them what they would look for in an activity like this. The answers were unanimous: networking, tips for success, and resources specifically geared to their needs. So, I met with my director, bounced around ideas, and was given the green light to move forward, plan the event, and to get assistance from other OL team members. I decided that the event would have people from campus talk about services available for students, allow students to meet each other and form friendships among other older students, and potentially develop a Student Group or small group activities (I took the idea from the new Enrichment program). I sent out an email to the other 35 team members, got 2 replies back (from which no help came). The only assistance I received was in the wording of my flyer.

Well, long story short... I had a mass email sent out to all PSU students (over 30, currently registered, recently admitted), and had the flyers on display at each Transfer Orientation. I asked my fellow OL's to mention it to their students, and I brought it up at each of my peer advising sessions. I sent an email to all the resources/services on campus and asked for them to either attend the event and speak to the students, or to display information about their service. I specifically zeroed in on those services that would most appeal to older students; child care, financial aid, health services, legal services, career center, family programs, and women's resource center.

In the email to the students, I included an email address I set up for this group.. and after 1 hour, got 20 RSVP's of people who were excited about the idea of meeting other students in their situation. I was getting pretty excited... but kept hitting resistance. My supervisors cut my budget, none of my OL teammates seemed to care about my activity, and I felt like I was being "humored" by everyone on my team. I decided that I was going to floor them by making this activity FLY!!!

I spent this afternoon running around picking up brochures and handouts, printing out sign up sheets, finishing my power point slide show of pictures and music to play in the background. I had the slide show, refreshments, tables, chairs, background music, and brochures all ready 30 minutes before anyone showed up. I was determined to make this flawless!!! 2 of my team members came by before the event to see if I needed anything, and after they printed the sign up sheet for me (the only thing I forgot), they left. The next time I saw anyone from my team was in the last 30 minutes when Ahmed came to see how it was going (Thanks Ahmed!!!).

So... how did it go??? It was FANTASTIC! I allowed the first 15 minutes for mingling, which wasn't a big deal since most of them came early and had been mingling for 20 minutes prior as well. I started by introducing myself, talking about my life as a "Non-traditional Student", explained the reason why I pushed so hard for this event to take place, and explained what the evening was going to be like. It was totally casual but educational and informative. I introduced the people who came to speak and explained why I had specifically selected them: Career Center, Legal Mediation, Children's Programs, Financial Aid, Women's Resource Center, and Student Health and Counseling. I also talked about my experience over the summer as an Orientation Leader and how I had worked very closely with the Undergraduate Advising and Support Center, and would be more than happy to answer any questions that they may have had. Those who came to speak were fantastic and very helpful. Everyone seemed very happy with the information they were getting, and had lots of questions. One guy was VERY happy to hear that these services were available for students.

After the speakers, I opened it up to questions about anything else they may have wondered about. During Orientations, I called this the "practical advice". Stuff like: what are professors like, how do younger students react to you, how do the younger professors react to you when you are older than them, what is the homework load like, etc. They all had lots of questions about interaction with professors, students, and how long it takes before you stop feeling so "old". Then, they caught me completely off guard. They started to thank me for pushing so hard for this event, and for "fighting for them". They were so gracious and appreciative that it was almost hard to stand there and be humble. They wanted to know who they needed to talk to to tell them how they felt about this activity, they were surprised that an event like this hadn't happened before, and they wanted to know "what was next". I have to admit... I knew this would happen, so I prepared for it (although I let them take the lead). I showed them the sign up sheets for small group activities based on interests and encouraged them to sign up for these as well as to sign up on the main sign up sheet. That would give me access to their email addresses and we could then plan other activities throughout the term. That totally got them going again! They talked about family events, study groups, monthly get togethers, and a student organization on campus. One lady made the remark that she didn't want to lose the connection she had felt with these people, and that she would talk to "anyone she needed to in order to get this group to stay active." I encouraged them to email the Orientaion office and tell them their reactions to the event so that my supervisors (who didn't even bother to make an appearance at the event) would know how well it went. By the end of the evening, I had people coming to me to give me a hug and saying "thank you". Ahmed helped me clean up and put everything away... and complimented everything he saw at this event. He said that it was one of the best events he had seen that week. I was so glad to have another person confirm that it went well.. and I'm so glad that it went as well as it did.

I always hate patting myself on the back... but it was such a good feeling!!! I knew it would be as successful as it was, and knowing that I did the entire event on my own was also a great feeling. I know that other activities that week weren't nearly as well planned, or as successful... and they each had 4+ people organizing them. It was just a great feeling knowing that I fought for it, because I knew it was a much needed program, and that I had been right... and that I had done it all on my own!!!!!!!!!