As a new year at the College of William and Mary begins, new Student Assembly President Kaveh Sadeghian ’12 offers some advice for the class of 2015.
Becoming part of the Tribe begins with the first baby steps on campus, according to Sadeghian.
“Orientation is where it starts,” Sadeghian said. “Relish everything that it has to offer, soak it in. One of the things I always tell tours is that it’s what you make of it. You get what you give kind of thing. So just be willing and be flexible, and be open to new experiences, try new things. There’s only one year where you get to be a freshman, so be a freshman.”
The SA plans to make its presence known during the week of freshmen orientation. As part of a new initiative to make the SA more approachable to the student body, the group will sponsor a photography shoot following Convocation.
“[The SA] has some really cool stuff happening during orientation,” Sadeghian said. “We’re getting this photo service. There’s going to be two photographers at the Sunken Garden right after Convocation on the circular steps, with the [Sir Christopher] Wren Building in the back. It’ll be framed and you can get unlimited photos with your OA hall, freshman hall, or your OA, whatever.”
In addition to increasing the SA’s involvement, Sadeghian wants a large part of his term as president to involve revamping the SA’s image to the student body.
“I want the SA to have more of a tangible presence in students’ lives,” Sadeghian said. “The SA does a lot of behind-the-scene things, like we appoint college committees and make sure that there’s a student presence in Williamsburg. They are these gears that have always been going and they need to keep going; they need to be maintained. After a while you forget that they’re there, because they’ve just always been rolling. So I wanted…in addition to making sure the gears are well oiled and working, [to] make sure that there was a facet of Student Assembly that’s very present to students.”
Sadeghian has been an Orientation Aide since his sophomore year, and wants every freshman to have a good time at the College.
“It has to be not in the sense that it’s oppressive like ‘we’re here, Big Brother’s watching,’” Sadeghian said. “It’s like ‘we’re here because we’re students and you’re students, we’re all students.’ What do you want on this campus? Let’s make it happen.”
According to Sadeghian, freshmen should not hesitate to join the College community.
“There’s no reason to be intimidated or anything like that,” Sadeghian said. “Everyone on this campus is so excited to have freshmen here. I know friends who are counting down to Convocation. And I know a lot of people who were freshmen last year who are like, ‘I can’t wait to be on the other side.’ Everyone’s rooting for them.”