Orientation First-Year Students
Welcome to Westmont College! The Orientation team is eager to meet you.
We have been praying for you and planning for your arrival to campus in August.
As you prepare to arrive be sure to review the Westmont Roadmap page.
One of our goals for Orientation is that you will make a successful transition into college life and begin to feel known and cared for in the Westmont Community. Transitioning well takes time and preparation. Be sure to see the info regarding the college transition below.
Also take note of the First Year Experience page to preview the many different opportunities we provide for our new students.
Please do not hesitate to contact the Campus Life Office or any of your support team members prior to your arrival.
We are thrilled you are coming to Westmont.
First-Year Information
Your Support Team
Faculty and staff at Westmont are known for their deep care for students. They are here not only to challenge and grow up academically, but also to nurture you and develop you socially, emotionally, professionally, and spiritually.
Below is resource information on people and departments that are specifically geared to supporting "first-year" students:
| Angela D'Amour, Dean of Student Engagement | She directs Orientation, oversees Campus Life, and is deeply concerned about your well being and growth as a person as Westmont. |
| Your Orientation Team | |
| Your Resident Directors (RDs): | As all first-years live in either Clark, Page, or Emerson you will get the opportunity to know these fantastic individuals. They are looking forward to supporting you during your first year at Westmont. Please feel free to call on them. They're here for you! |
| Your Resident Assistants (RAs) | Westmont is known for its community. The RA process is very selective, and your RA's truly want to get to know you! |
| Center for Student Success | The Center for Student Success offers free peer coaches to help students navigate challenges of the college experience, both inside and outside the classroom. |
| COVE Career Center | The COVE Career Center will help connect you to student employment and discuss assessment tools recommended for new students |
| Accessibility Resource Office | The Accessibility Resource Office provides academic adjustments and auxiliary aids and services to support equal access in and out of the classroom for students with disabilities. |
| Off Campus Programs | If you're interested in studying abroad--whether that be for a semester, or a month in the summer the Off Campus Programs Office can help you plan and prepare. |
First-Years: Transition Well
So it’s that time, and you’re off for the grand adventure of college. Before you arrive, we would like to suggest a few areas for you to think about and prepare for as you come.
Read, read and then read some more!
This is what you will spend a great deal of time doing in college. Most of you will come with a limited ability to sustain active reading for a long period of time. It takes practice and discipline.
You can ease into the transition by doing some reading over the summer. While it might not be the same type of reading as the academic material you will cover in college, it will get you practicing.
Also, you must be an active reader. Ask yourself questions about the material while you are reading. Take notes and highlight. Look over the whole chapter to get the main ideas before you read it for detail. These little things can make a big difference.
The "Free" Time Trap
“Free” time seems to be in abundance at college. Most of you will only be in class for about 10–12 hours per week. With few assignments between occasional tests and papers, it seems you have a lot of free time. But this is one of the biggest traps for college students.
Professors can expect that you will spend two hours outside of class doing homework for every hour spent in class. If you do the math, that means you should be spending between 20 and 24 hours each week studying. Most of that time is spent — you guessed it — reading!
So think of this as your job and set up a schedule. Use your time during the day and don’t expect to get all your studying done at night. It’s an adjustment, but you can do it!
Lifestyle Choices
These choices are numerous and all affect your success as a student. To drink or not to drink is one. While Westmont has established policies prohibiting the use of alcohol, the choice and the responsibility is yours. You have all seen television shows and movies that portray alcohol as part of college. It can seem you are missing out if partying is not part of your college experience. What the movies don’t show is the physical, mental, spiritual and academic toll drinking can take on a student. Most Westmont students choose to have a fun and fulfilling experience without alcohol.
This is just one of the many decisions you’ll face. How much sleep do you need to get up for your eight o’clock class? What kinds of things will you do to grow spiritually? It might help to think through these questions before you arrive so you’re ready to set the direction for some of the decisions you will face.
Who Me, Homesick?
Many new students will miss home at some point in the first year . For some it will be missing your parents, for some missing your siblings (can you believe that actually might happen?!), and for others it might be missing friends or even pets. This is healthy, but hard. Schedule regular times to connect with family and friends from home through phone calls or video chats. And know that these feelings will ebb and flow throughout the year.
"Old" vs. New Friends
Making friends will be harder for some than for others. If you’re not as outgoing, making friends will be tiring and scary, but if you stretch yourself to meet people from the beginning, it will happen.
For others, it may be hard to let go of high school friends. It is important to remember that it probably took years for those friendships to develop, so your college friendships often won’t be like them for at least a year. It will be tempting to run to those close friendships from high school, but if you do, you won’t be allowing your new ones to grow. High school friendships will change, and some will fade away, but these are the seasons of friendship. If you’re prayerful, patient and flexible, new and lasting friendships can and will develop.
Who Am I?
Going to college means starting over. Those of you who were good students in high school may get your first C on a test.
So who are you? Those of you who were well known and were involved in everything will face a situation where you are one of 400 new students — you have to start over. Those of you who were varsity basketball players may not make the team, and those of you who were honors students may get average grades at Westmont.
Be patient during this time of transition. God will be stretching your old definition of what it means to be you, and if you are open and flexible, you may be surprised and happy with the new you you see on graduation day.
You are an official Westmont Warrior. Now what?
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