Student ambassadors bridge gaps at college orientation

By Ry Clarke - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on September 7, 2022.

Herald photo by Ry Clarke A student ambassador gets set to lead a group on a campus tour during New Student Orientation Tuesday at Lethbridge College.

Lethbridge College welcomed new students back to campus Tuesday kicking off the fall 2022 semester.

Five thousand students have registered for the semester with 2,300 making up new students. The College hosted a New Student Orientation in the campus’s Centre Core, with program orientations helping students learn important information about support services, rights and responsibilities, and how to navigate the campus.

“We are so excited to welcome back over 1,000 students who registered for NSO. It’s very exciting with lots of energy on campus. We have program orientations going on campus tours and a complimentary barbecue. We have a bunch of booths set up in the centre core for students to interact with our services that we have on campus,” said Kelly Bari, coordinator for First Year Experience. “It’s been a very welcoming and exciting morning. It’s so fantastic to be able to chat with students again face-to-face, making those connections. I think that’s really important for them as well. It’s a great chance for them to get to know the campus and a chance for us to get to know them as well. Venue tours are going around campus, with tours running from 10 to 2 today.”

Working on the platform for success, the orientation had student ambassadors on campus to help answer any questions students had and welcome them to campus with every possibility of feeling at ease.

“It feels really good to have the campus alive and busy again. I know a lot of the students are having anxiety about coming back on campus and being in class, but as the days go on you will get more used to it. It’s important to welcome the students back and to ease their fear of their first day, guiding them and answering their questions,” said Chiane Shade, student ambassador. “Helping them learn how to read their classes on their syllabus, so they know where they are going in the college. Making them feel welcome and trying to ease the anxiety of their nerves, welcoming them and being friends.”

The College’s Pandemic Response Team notes in a press release that the health and safety of the campus community will continue to be a priority, asking students to monitor their health and stay home if they do not feel well. Masks are welcome on campus, and mandatory in the Wellness Centre, which includes all visits with on-campus physicians. The team will meet monthly to monitor all developments related to COVID-19 and will be ready to make changes if necessary.

With campus life returning to the College the semester is set to begun today, Sept. 7, with students prepared and ready for the fall 2022 semester.