Welcoming freshmen: Orientation week for 1,000 newcomers at LUMS ends

Seminars, competitions, team building exercises held to ‘familiarise students with campus life.

LAHORE:

The orientation week at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) for over 1, 000 students in various undergraduate programmes this year ends on Tuesday (today).

Though practically a four-day session, the orientation week, also called the O-Week, consist of several activities in collaboration with the student body. This year, the newcomers were assisted by 60 volunteers from the senior students to participate in the activities.

Mustafa Bajwa, a senior student, who was heading the O-Week this year, said the activities aimed at familiarising the newcomers with life on campus.

First introduced in 2009, Bajwa said, the O-week is organised to help students connect with their batch mates and seniors.

As many as 13 coordinators managed the O-Week, he said. He said the freshmen were divided into 36 groups this year with two coaches each to guide them.  The groups, he said, were made to ensure diversity by including day scholars and boarders in each group.

“Students sharing the same dorms were included in the same group to ensure greater interaction,” he said.

The activities ranged from team building exercises to busting myths about campus life. Coaches provided relevant information to their group members.

Norin Yasmin, one of the coaches, said that new students were especially keen to discuss issues related to the selection of subjects and courses.

A biology major at the School of Science and Engineering, Yasmin said most queries were academic in nature.

Some faculty members also conducted seminars during the O-Week that also included competitions. A sports gala was also held. Library staff held sessions to inform students on how to use library resources. Most students visited the university’s dedicated O-Week website and LUMS groups on social media.

Raahema Siddiqui, a senior student at the Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences, said there was greater enthusiasm among the newcomers this time round than the previous years.

Amidst all this, senior students made sure to appoint their peers to assist newcomers with path finding.

Momina Haider, a freshman at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering, said she had been losing her way around the campus for.

“It’s a maze, especially the academic block,” she said.

Parents of many new students had been present at the inaugural ceremony at the Sports Complex of the university on August 25.

The O-Week will culminate with a talent show which will be graded. Classes are scheduled to begin from Wednesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2012.