The College of William and Mary is welcoming approximately 175 transfer students and 1630 freshman students in the Class of 2027. Upon arrival to campus, new students undergo a comprehensive orientation process spanning five days of activities, lessons and group bonding. Orientation Aides on campus assist with the move-in and orientation after attending a lengthy training process.
“I was honestly longing to come back after summer just because my second family is at William and Mary and so many people that I met last year became OAs,” OA Kendyl George ’26 said. “It was really cool to go through training all together.”
During this year’s New Student Orientation process, OAs underwent a four-day preparation prior to new student move-in, a one-day increase from last year. Freshmen and transfer students are also gaining an additional day of orientation.
“The entire process has become a little bit longer this year,” OA Sophia Sickler ’25 said. “I guess that this year specifically, there’s been some venue changes since Kaplan is under construction.”
With the expansion of orientation preparation, OA Megan Cressy ’25 felt that there was sufficient time to process the information covered in training sessions.
“We had more time to break and digest and had longer meal times,” Cressy said. “It didn’t feel rushed, it felt like we were able to process everything, which was good.”
Michael Culkin ’25 shared his thoughts on his second consecutive year of being an OA.
“It can be a really exhausting process, getting up early before everyone, staying later for staff time, but it’s definitely worth it trying to help the kids kind of reach out to new people,” Culkin said.
OAs also expressed their gratitude for Orientation Area Directors, who are accomplished undergraduate students that have previously been members of the College’s Orientation Staff. The OADs are hired to work alongside faculty and staff to plan and coordinate orientation programming for the following year’s New Student Orientation.
Culkin also reflected on the value of the relationships formed with both new students and upperclassmen.
“It’s kind of weird how you almost become best friends with the people you’re working with,” Culkin said. “I mean of course you’re bringing the freshmen class together, but it’s also kind of bringing upperclassmen together.”
For students joining the campus as freshmen or as transfer students, the orientation process offers a unique opportunity to learn about the campus layout and bond with other students. Through a coordinated series of lessons and group events, new students gain insight into the culture of campus, traditions and innovations associated with the College.
“I feel like some of the things in orientation are definitely based on getting out of your comfort zone, so it’s definitely been a learning process for me, but I’ve learned a lot,” Anastasia Stoltz ’27 said. “The OAs have definitely been good at showing how welcoming [the College] is.”
Transfer student from Rappahannock Community College Bryce Fulford ’25 also reflected fondly on the orientation experience and his contentment with his orientation aides.
“The orientation experience so far has been excellent,” Fulford said. “Our OA’s have been fantastic in terms of showing us around campus and showing us unique opportunities on campus and stuff that we may not necessarily have seen on a traditional tour here. And just in terms of getting comfortable with the culture of William and Mary, orientation has been fantastic.”
“Of course, we have some lectures to learn, but we also have a lot of activities that are really good at making it natural for new people to interact with each other, which is not always a natural process,” Hoelting said. “I think even a lot of people who were kind of struggling or not looking forward to it at the start have kind of gradually come around.”
Though the orientation process takes place over a series of multiple days, freshmen students indicated their gratitude for both coordinated events and free time to take on more independent activities and bond with fellow students.
“The OAs do a really good job of making it feel like summer camp,” Nick Kruzshak ’27 said. “The first few days are a really rigid schedule, and then they’re telling us that as the days progress, we’re gonna get more and more real, do what we’d like.”
Nicholas Hoelting ’27 indicated similar thoughts on the orientation process, taking note of fellow students progressively coming to admire the experience despite their initial anxieties.
“Of course, we have some lectures to learn, but we also have a lot of activities that are really good at making it natural for new people to interact with each other, which is not always a natural process,” Hoelting said. “I think even a lot of people who were kind of struggling or not looking forward to it at the start have kind of gradually come around.”
Though students have opportunities to bond with their orientation group, some freshmen and transfer students expressed desire to meet people outside of their initial arranged group. For freshmen students, orientation groupings are coordinated by subdivided sections of residence halls. Due to the arrangement of some residence halls on campus, certain sections of the buildings are designated same-gender groupings.
“Getting to know people who aren’t just in our residence hall would be really nice, because we’ve got our [Resident Assistant] groups and our OA groups, which are essentially the same,” Neya Alper ’27 said. “It also threw me kind of for a loop when I found out they are same gender, same sex orientation groups, at least ours is just the way it worked out. Just having more opportunities where you are essentially forced to make new friends from different areas around school.”
“It’s very cliche, but when you get onto the campus, you just get this feeling,” Stolz said. “That’s what I got with William and Mary, I toured twelve other schools and they just didn’t feel the same.”
Freshmen and transfer students expressed collective satisfaction with their orientation experiences and shared reflections on their certainty to attend the College.
“It’s very cliche, but when you get onto the campus, you just get this feeling,” Stolz said. “That’s what I got with William and Mary, I toured twelve other schools and they just didn’t feel the same.”
Pearl Imbriale ’27 felt similarly to Stoltz, recalling her decision to attend the College after weighing other options.
“Logistically, I felt like it was the perfect size for me, had good academics and a beautiful campus,” Imbriale said. “This is a really watered down statement, but the vibes were perfect for me. During my search, I looked at so many colleges, but I always went back to William and Mary.”
For others, their introduction to the College was a long-anticipated process.
“I always wanted to go here, but it just didn’t work out at first,” transfer student from the University of Tennessee Megan Coppola ’26 said. “I finally got to come, and I just love this community. It’s like a big family. Everybody’s made me feel so welcome before. It’s like the prettiest campus I’ve ever seen. I also transferred for the smaller class sizes. At my old school, I just felt like a number.”
Transfer student from the University of Gettysburg Vanessa Broadrup ’25 shared similar perspectives, taking note of the characteristic qualities of students at the College.
“I’ve just always loved William and Mary — I grew up going to Colonial Williamsburg as a kid and I love the campus,” Broadrup said. “There’s a certain type of person that goes to William and Mary.
