New Columbians Soak In NSOP

As a dizzying week of parties, advising, bonding, city outings, hookups, info sessions, placement exams, and meals came to a close last night, the class of 2010 appeared to respond the way any self-respecting Columbia student would-with pluck, grit, and a healthy dose of cynicism.

"I went to boarding school and they didn't give us any orientation," Gabriella Ripoll, CC '10, mused, "so it's strange to have all this."

The jam-packed schedule planned by the New Student Orientation Program included many of the familiar orientation hallmarks: orange-shirted leaders shepherding Columbia's newest collegians from event to event, under-attended meetings whether they were mandatory or not, the obligatory health program ("Consent to sex-that's about all I retained from it," said Ripoll), and enough free food to feed an army.

With so much to enjoy, some didn't know what to do with all of it. Orientation "was kind of unnerving," Alex Hinton, CC '10, said. "We had all this free time to lounge and party."

Traditional orientation fodder was joined by two new additions: Blaze, a scavenger hunt on steroids replacing the defunct CUnity, and mandatory diversity training, titled Under One Roof.

Blaze "was a race, but that wasn't really the motivation behind it," said Danielle Coffey, BC '07 and the NSOP Barnard College coordinator. "It's really to get to know each other."

But not all were sold on the program. "I went to Blaze and ditched it pretty fast," Don Leistman, CC '10, said.

"It was below the hype," Hinton added.

An Oakland, Calif., native, Hinton said that he was also skeptical about Under One Roof, as his hometown has a great deal of diversity. But he warmed up to it.

"It was really interesting ... I realized that a lot of people are from areas without much diversity," he said.

Diversity and social activism were celebrated on a much larger, livelier scale at Wednesday night's Community Forum, which NSOP CC/SEAS coordinator Cindy Horowitz, CC '09, described as being "like high school students at a pep rally on crack."

On other nights, first-years were treated to parties at the New York Aquarium, an open-mic event, a Lerner party complete with karaoke and Texas Hold 'Em, and a screening of Ghostbusters.

When not enjoying the festivities, many took time to set their course schedules at advising sessions and one-on-one meetings. But, as Leistman noted, it wasn't always easy to navigate the system.

"People don't seem very helpful around here. You kind of have to figure out what to do for yourself," she said.