Orientation week is the best week of the entire school year and who knows this better than orientation leaders?! Here are 19 signs that you are a Waterloo Orientation Leader:
1. If you’re not an oweek leader, the word FOC sounds like a derogatory term for something un–oweek related
It is not. It stands for Feds Orientation Committee. They plan and run orientation week as well as wear yellow vests. They are besties in vesties and they are the best people in the world.
2. You vigorously use the UWOW hashtag on all your social media
You have to share how fun oweek is to all of your friends and post all your precious oweek pictures on instagram.
3. You’re always tired from the early mornings and late nights, but somehow you always have enough energy to pump up your first-years
We’ve got spirit (even though we’re dying of sleep deprivation), how ’bout you?
4.You refer to your first-years as children/babies
Even though you’re not supposed to call them this, you still do anyways. And sometimes they’re actually older than you.
5. For move-ins you pray that you don’t have to be at either CLV or UWP
You’re not about walking all the way to CLV because it’s WAY too far. And you’re not about walking up the three thousand stairs at UWP.
6. You’re literally a hot mess during the week
You sweat a lot during oweek due to a ton of physical activity, the humidity and being outside in the sun 24/7. And in addition, you are committed to wearing only one shirt the whole week which, results in doing laundry every night when you get home. And sometimes you forget to do laundry, which means you have to wear the shirt unwashed the next day (sigh).
7. You lose your voice by the end of oweek
If you’re lucky, you lose it after Black and Gold Day. But if you don’t lose your voice, you’re not doing oweek right.
8. Your first and only in-person Orientation Leader Training makes you want to scratch your eyes out
Learning about leadership in the driest way possible for 7 hours that even the people that teach the course get bored. The only good thing about it is the free lunch.
9. You’re unphased by edcom
They’re only scary for the first years. Or at least they try to be scary. If you’re lucky and ask nicely, they’ll take a picture with you.
10. You have an oweek alias
And people usually refer to you by set name even after oweek.
11. You know all the cheers
You have to know all the UW cheers AND all of your faculty cheers, but somehow you know all of them.
12. “Make sure it’s OLT friendly”
Making a cheer? Make sure it’s OLT friendly. Deciding to buy swag for your team? Make sure it’s OLT friendly. Dancing? Make sure it’s OLT friendly.
13. You spread as much faculty love as possible
Because everyone loves everyone.
14. You can whip out any icebreaker on command
Need to kill time? Let’s play Huckle-Buckle. Awkward silence? Let’s play dum-dum-dada.
15. Whenever you hear the leader or the faculty dance song, no matter what happens, you stop, drop and start dancing and singing to it like there’s no tomorrow
Hears Honey I’m Good by Andy Grammar, starts grape-vining during the chorus.
16. You’re also pretty good at giving advice
You give out advice to your first years like there’s no tomorrow.
17. You get more excited than your first-years to complete the oweek activities
You can’t really blame them for being shy, but you try as much as you can to encourage your first years to do the activities.
18. Whenever someone asks you what your favourite part of oweek is, you actually can’t just pick ONE favourite thing
Getting your first years, performing the leader dance, cheering, Monte Carlo, BUT ALL THE THINGS ARE EXCITING ABOUT OWEEK.
19. You aspire to get all the stickers on your leader tag
Because stickers are fun.
20. Getting asked “who’s orientation week for?”
You’re supposed to answer “for the first-years” but secretly you answer “it’s for me” because oweek is more fun as a leader than a first-year.
21. “Don’t forget your leader tag and shirt”
Don’t worry FOC, I won’t forget my leader tag and shirt.
22. You come home to a family
Every oweek leader, no matter the faculty or the position, everyone automatically becomes best friends. And usually this is what usually goes down during oweek ~ watch this vid here!
Think being an orientation leader is fun? Volunteer for Orientation 2016!
Want to become an orientation leader for Orientation 2016? Apply to be a leader here. The deadline is January 24 2016.
Want to become an orientation coordinator for Orientation 2016? Apply to be a co-ord here. The deadline is January 5 2016.