Comments on my Orientation

Thursday and Friday I had the mandatory obligation to attend my college's new student orientation. I had assumed they would spend those two days discussing academics and giving us tips and tricks to succeed in our college life. I had assumed our professors would be stationed around campus, available to talk to eager new students like myself who just can't know enough about anything. I had assumed we would have a huge rally to inspire school spirit in uncertain new students who had probably intended to attend other schools. I did not expect to spend two days learning about the hottest places to party, how to avoid being caught by the university police once you were drunk or high, and where to buy the cheapest condoms.

I don't know why I bothered to be surprised. When my best friend went through his orientation at a nearby university last year, he had come home and told me that he had been shocked how little they discussed the things that actually mattered. It had seemed like all the incoming freshmen wanted to know was where to go to get drunk without being flagged as underage. I had thought that since my university was smaller and ranked in the top schools of the nation, the students would be a little more focused on academics. Talk about disillusioned.

I knew I was in for a very interesting day the first time we were separated from our parents. My small group was actually two groups meshed together, dubbed "group 89" by our leaders, two student workers. They immediately apologized for having to go over the university's policies and rushed through the rules, regulations, and academic information. Then came the flood of questions about student activities, often involving sorority or fraternity gatherings. And beer. Always beer. One of our adult-led sessions included a thirty-minute lecture on condoms. Another one spoke of a designated driver program where, if you HAD to get drunk, you should at least call a cab or have a sober leader to drive you home. The emphasis was never placed on making the right choices, rather on making "responsible" ones once you had already messed up.

But by far the lowest point of the evening involved our second small group session. A student in the front row called for a random poll of the thirty or so of us in the room to see who was a virgin. There were only around seven virgins, including myself. And five of those immediately cried out their intentions to lose it.

Morality is at an all time low in our schools and universities. There seems to be nothing that we can do about it. After all, what could I and one other quiet virgin do or say in a room full of those who were all too happy to sell themselves so early in life? For once in my life, I was speechless. I wanted to get up and argue, but I just didn't have the words. The seriousness of the situation finally struck me. The moral are a minority. We are looked down upon, laughed at behind our backs. And, for the most part, we let them do it. We're a minority. But we need to stick together and help one another out. We need to start support groups and stand together because there is strength in numbers. While we may not change the lives of people around us, we can at least prevent them from changing us.

Steph8/2/2008