Students Leading Success
When many students first enter college, their feelings of excitement are often coupled with some fear and anxiety of the unknown. At this fall’s orientation, veteran Illinois Central College students are being enlisted to help welcome these new students and ease their transition into ICC.
Abbie Alsene, manager of student activities at ICC, says that she’s been encouraging students to get involved with the leadership program to advocate the diversity of the student population.
According to Alsene, ICC officials have been selecting leaders from the student body to speak at Fall Orientation since last year, and come orientation, these student leaders will be utilized to discuss, with incoming freshmen, topics ranging from class difficulty to navigating the ICC campuses.
Alsene also mentioned that student leaders from a variety of backgrounds will also be participating in a forum where the incoming freshmen will have an opportunity to ask them questions via a moderator, who will direct the questions to the most knowledgeable person on the panel. These speakers have all gone through the enrollment process and dealt with issues similar to those new students face today.
“Even students who haven’t been involved in the leadership program in the past are encouraged to participate,” Alsene said. “Whatever it takes to make a positive difference for new students.”
When asked of her opinion about the role, Kelsie Shambaugh, one of the student leaders who will be participating in the forum, responded, “I think it’s fun! It’s great to help new students get oriented. Coming into college from high school was really scary for me. You feel like you don’t know what you’re doing at first, but I came to the tours, and just listening to where everything was and learning about the classes before I started really helped ease the tension.”
Amy Miller, a graduate student at ISU, who created the majority of training material for the guides while interning at ICC, said she focused on giving the freshmen an opportunity to relate to other students.
“It’s really important that we have people who are comfortable with relating to others so when we’re out giving tours, people can talk about experiences they had while attending ICC,” said Miller.
This year’s Fall Orientation is at the East Peoria Campus on August 5, 6 and 7. Check-in is at 4:00 p.m., and the planned activities will come to a close at 7:00 p.m. each day. Orientation will answer many of the questions new students might have regarding the upcoming year. Students can RSVP by calling (309) 694-5560.