Recapping Welcome Week 2024: What Changed From Last Year?

A trip to SeaWorld, a giant banquet table down Caf Lane, root beer floats and the repeated question, “What’s your name and major?” For incoming Point Loma Nazarene University freshmen, that’s a basic summary of 2024’s welcome week experience. Besides all the activities and having to share your name and major hundreds of times, Welcome Week is the new launchpad for incoming students’ first year of college.

In 2023, PLNU shifted from a two-day new student orientation (NSO) format to a week-long experience to make for an easier transition to college. With daily events and activities, Welcome Week takes nearly an entire year to plan for and pull off, according to Kathy Lee, Welcome Week coordinator and Nease West resident director.

Welcome Week began on Tuesday, Aug. 27, with the infamous chants and cheers of students and resident assistants (RAs) greeting freshmen at their dorms.

“Imagine this: I was crammed in the car with my family and all of my stuff, and we pull into the parking lot above Klassen [Hall],” said first-year undeclared major Aubrey Bechard. “There was a group of people screaming at me, ‘Welcome, welcome!’ which was so sweet.”

Despite the excitement of being welcomed to college life, this hallmark of move-in can also prove to be a challenge.

“In the moment, I was very overwhelmed because I didn’t know what I was doing or what was happening around me,” Bechard said. “But as the moving-in process continued, I met with my RA and had a great time transitioning [to dorm life].”

Once the initial shock of move-in began to wear off and parents were ushered home, the real excitement of new student activities began. Freshmen found their places in alpha groups (hall meetings led by upperclassmen), chatted with other new students at a banquet table dinner down Caf Lane and gathered with their new community at an “Inside Out 2” movie night. Many  freshmen agreed that the biggest highlights were a surprise trip to SeaWorld on Friday and an Almost Monday concert on Saturday.

According to John Hulsmann, a first-year elementary education major, there was a small mosh pit at the concert, which may have reminded last year’s freshmen of the Telephone Friends concert at the Greek Amphitheatre. Although this year’s events nearly paralleled last year’s welcome week, there were some big differences — the first being the drastic change of pace.

For Hailey Snyder, a second-year graphic design major, some of the most difficult aspects of Welcome Week during her first year were how many events were packed into the week and the lack of sleep she experienced. But this year, most events were optional.

“There was a lot of [time for] relaxing when I needed it,” Hulsmann said. “You could go to the events that you thought were important or stay in your dorm if you wanted to.”

This added free time was intentional — PLNU leaders wanted to give students more time to rest before plunging into classes.

“One of the biggest pieces of feedback from last year that we really prioritized for this year was to offer more space for free time and rest for our new students to settle into college life and have time to do what they need in order to prepare for the first week of school,” Lee said in an email interview. “We offered a lot more free time this year and were able to make some good adjustments for space without having to remove a ton of the events from the previous year.”

Welcome Week concluded on Monday, Sept. 2, with Lomaland (formerly known as Bobby B’s Birthday Bash). Current students and incoming freshmen had the chance to go on carnival rides, line dance and grab churros and funnel cake while watching a picturesque sunset from the gym parking lot.

“My favorite part of  [Welcome Week] was probably Lomaland because that’s when the whole student body finally came together,” Kailyn Collette, a first-year journalism major, said. “It felt like I was part of [something] bigger than myself.”

As PLNU looks to the future alongside its new university president Kerry Fulcher, Lee hopes that welcome week will continue to be a tradition for incoming freshmen, she said. While many students are anticipating the same, there are still improvements the student body hopes will be made.

“[I wish] there were more activities to do, not just with the people in your hall,” said Kaelyn VanderSpek, first-year journalism major. “I felt like I was stuck with the same people in my hall and I wasn’t able to make friends with other people in my dorm.”

Other students felt the same, with Bechard echoing the need for there to be more activities with a wider mix of the student body.

“[Having] more activities that involved everyone in the dorm would cause a bridge for more connection, as well as maybe another activity or some sort of student mixer with the upperclassmen,” said Bechard. “Lomaland was a great opportunity to meet other people but I think [there needs to be] more options.”