To start 2012 in style, the Dalhousie Student Union has decided to host Frost Week, a week of events for first year students. DSU vice president (student life) Jamie Arron says the goal of the event is to get students active and to make opportunities for them to meet new people.
“Frosh week was divided up into floors in residence, and we want to mix it up a little more this time so people aren’t always with the people they hang out on a day-to-day basis,” says Arron. “We think it’s a great idea for first years to meet new people so they realize that their first semester friends might not always be their friends all the way through university. The goal is to break up cliques before they form.”
Exposing frosh to new people wasn’t the only reason the DSU decided to host Frost Week. “People come back from the holidays and it’s easy to fall into a lull, stay in and have unhealthy habits. We’re hoping this week will get students out and active and show them all the opportunities they have to be active at Dal this winter,” Arron says.
With Frost Week being a new idea, the DSU realizes things may not always go smoothly. Arron says everyone helping organize the event accepts that there is always the chance of unforeseen problems when running an event for the first time. He says they will be ready to deal with those problems if they happen.
The other potential problem the DSU sees is attendance at these events. “This is the first year we’ve done it, so small scale problems might happen. Getting students from other campuses involved may be difficult because we’ve been working mostly with hall councils. But we hope everyone, even non-residence students, will participate,” says Arron. As of press time, just under 400 bracelets were sold for the week.
First-year students are having mixed reactions to the week of events. Some students are excited for the week of activity and are really impressed with the line-up of events the DSU has chosen to host.
First-year student Katherine Everett says she’s excited for “the winter events. There are some really neat and exciting events that are the kind of things you don’t get to do every day. And especially for students who aren’t from the area, the Mooseheads will be a really great opportunity.”
Fellow first-year Keriann MacNaughton-Seguin has a different reason. “I’m doing it to get myself back up to university speed after lazing around over the holidays,” she says. However, participation may be down because, unlike Frosh Week, during Frost Week there will still be classes and homework to deal with.
Arron also hopes this week of events will help recruit Frosh leaders for September. “We plan to use Frost Week to plant the seed in first-year’s minds that they can be Frosh Week leaders. This week will also show them the opportunities there are to get involved in other things on campus.”
Recent Comments