What to Expect in O-Week

By Jake Vernon-Elliot

Moving into College is always an exciting, yet unnerving experience; the opportunity to become more independent and meet life-long friends vs. the uncertainty of the unknown. The whole prospect can seem daunting at times, moving out of home, meeting new people, and of course facing the challenge of packing the optimum number of socks and undies. Although, at the same time, it’s definitely a time of excitement and opportunity as you look forward to the experiences and adventures that the year to come may bring.

With Welcome Saturday quickly approaching, I'm sure like most people you have a million and one questions flying around your head. I remember that about this time last year.

Being the eldest in my family, knowing no-one down in Melbourne, and having only visited Victoria once when I was about three years old, to say that I was a “little in the dark” before coming to college would be an understatement. Besides, I was stressed about making sure I packed all the right things, was sad to be leaving my dogs at home and quite frankly, was desperately hoping to make friends quickly. Oh, and on the topic of O-Week - I had absolutely zero clue of what to anticipate. Instead, my only real expectations had formed from a peculiar mesh of trashy American teen comedies, and vague, echoey speculation – how perfect!

Now? I know that Kmart is just up the road for any packing mishaps, I try to FaceTime my dogs every Saturday afternoon, and the friend’s situation…? Well, it became quickly apparent that the people at UC are quite possibly the kindest, most legendary, diverse bunch of people you’ll ever meet, so making friends, settling into your second home and finding “your people” was a breeze.

When first moving into college, it’s obviously difficult to anticipate how these things may come about, and likewise, predict exactly what happens in the age-old tradition of orientation week or O-Week. As such, hopefully to calm some nerves and give you more background, here’s what to expect at O-Week hosted by yours truly, University College.

What is O-Week?

First and foremost, O-Week or Orientation Week is about meeting and getting to know new people. Likewise, it’s a time to explore and discover your new “home away from home” in Melbourne.

O-Week Events

Throughout the week, there’s a jam-packed schedule of activities to get you settled into college and pumped for the year ahead. There’s everything from picnics down by the Yarra River, to races around the city, to formal dinners, “corridor cuppas”, and of course, some epic nights where you’ll get to boogie away with all of your new friends.

These student activities are meticulously designed for you guys by a team of around 50 O-Week Leaders. In doing so, it’s our number one priority to ensure the events are both accessible and inclusive, that they are founded with the goal to promote friendship building and comfort in your new home, and of course, for you have the most amazing time possible. Looking back, it’s safe to say that my O-Week experience was absolutely incredible, and to this day, I still look back on the whole week with a smile. All in all, it’s pretty awesome, and I sure hope you are able to love it as much as I did.

Meeting New Friends

You might also be thinking, "surely it will be difficult to meet and get to know new people with so many first years?". Never fear! Throughout the week you’ll be grouped into small teams of about 10-15 people with a trio of O-week Leaders helping you out along the way. Last year, I was in Team Grey (undoubtedly the best team may I quickly add!! #NotBiased), and it’s funny to look back and see how many of my now incredibly close friends stemmed from that group. Similarly, my O-Week Leaders soon became a make-shift college parents, who I was able to ask for advice, get tips from for both college and university, and who I knew would always be there
for me if I needed anything. Ask anyone from any team, and they’ll say the same thing.

Beyond your immediate team groups, of course, there are also plenty of amazing dinners, picnics and opportunities throughout the week where you’ll get to meet new people from other teams, bond with your corridor and get to know the other O-Week Leaders, the Resident Tutors, and the Staff!