by Cole Taylor
At the beginning of each new school year, students at Oklahoma Baptist University volunteer to serve during the school’s Welcome Week. During the week, new students explore campus resources, buildings, professors, and traditions. Additionally, Welcome Week at OBU orients students and creates a fun, engaging, and helpful start to college life.
“The goal is to help students become accustomed to campus, while encouraging them to step out of their comfort zones and get involved with OBU activities,” said Steering Committee Crew Co-chair Adin Costanzo. “They’ve adjusted well, and they’ve really been able to hit the ground running better than other classes I’ve seen.”
During Welcome Week, new students discovered many opportunities both on and off campus. On-campus clubs promoted their organizations at Un Cuerpo (a meet and greet for organizations,) showed new students what campus life looks like on Bison Hill, and encouraged them to get involved.
“I received information about different organizations and clubs that I could get involved in,” said freshman ministry major Lexie Taylor. “It helped me to feel welcomed, prepared and excited for the semester to come.”
The new students showed excitement about the opportunities. Since the end of Welcome Week on-campus clubs spiked in their numbers. Canterbury, an evening worship service, drew over 200 people at the first service. Similarly, Greek Life Rush recorded over 50 young men rushing the men’s clubs and over 100 girls rushing the women’s clubs.
On-campus clubs were not the only organizations that the excitement of Welcome Week influenced. Students also built friend groups elsewhere, forming relationships with people in their residence halls, classmates, and even those they passed on their way to class.
“As an RA, one of the most important parts of our job is to build community,” said sophomore residence assistant Lane Fincher. Fincher serves as an RA in Agee Men’s dorm and builds community daily with over 25 residents. “This freshman class has been difficult,” Fincher said, “Not because they are not connected, but because they are so connected and are good at making a community, that they have essentially done my job for me.”
Even off-campus communities in the city of Shawnee felt the effects of Welcome Week. During an event called, “Serve Shawnee,” the new students spread out across the city to serve at various locations. One of those locations included Cargo Ranch, a local nonprofit that mentors young kids.
“The students got a lot of work done while they were here,” said Cargo Ranch founder and CEO Carrie Carter. “They did a lot of hard labor that really needed to be done. They were super helpful.” In a later meeting, Carter also said that the Cargo campus looked beautiful thanks to the hard work of the freshmen who served there.
As the school year continues and more opportunities open up, the new students on campus have shown increasing interest in getting involved. They have launched political campaigns to join the Student Government Association, interviewed for various positions on the Campus Activities Board, and even expressed interest in starting their own clubs, such as the resurgence of Bass Fishing. The spark on the campus of OBU has once again been ignited by the excitement of the new students, regardless of which clubs they pursue.
Taylor summed up the mindset of the freshman class perfectly when she said: “I am so excited for more opportunities to get involved on campus.”
