O Week organizers lay out the (virtual) welcome mat for incoming students

In a typical year, O Week runs like a well-oiled machine: first year students take trips to the CN Tower, take Waterfront boat tours, play board game days at a popular Toronto board game café, and meet with other students at evening socials. This year, in response to COVID-19, the week-long schedule for O Week has been cut down to a lean two and a half days — better to control zoom fatigue, say the organizers — and all events will be hosted online.

Without a template to guide this year’s organizers, they’re nevertheless pulling out all the stops, becoming experts in Zoom chat rooms and creative online event planning to ensure that the incoming students feel welcome and connected to their new school while staying safe.

“We’re always keeping the first years’ best interests in mind,” says Dominika Kovaleva. She, along with Sarah Park and Sara Marcine, this year’s O Week organizers, didn’t expect to be planning a virtual O Week. “Everything we’re doing is for the first years. At the end of the day, want them to build friendships, feel bonds, feel connected,” adds the DDS2 student, noting that Orientation week is the first and most important time to help incoming classmates bond.

This year’s activities will commence with an icebreaker event on September 2nd, where groups of 12 incoming students will be paired up with one of 18 O-Week leaders. The activity is meant to start that relationship off on the right foot: “They’ll start to get to know each other and get those awkward first conversations out of the way,” says Kovaleva.

Thursday will involve a “speed friending” activity — adopted from the popular “speed dating”— to expose the DDS1 class to more of their peers. They’ll also have a chance to join in on for a variety of online board game parties, a virtualization of the traditional trip to the board game café.

Instead of an in-person social, O Week participants will be issued Ubereats gift cards Thursday night, so that they can enjoy a dinner of their choice together over Zoom. Then, first years will have a choice between enjoying a live online DJ or one of several Netflix film watching parties. The organizers hope the students will chat with others while watching or listening. “We want them to feel it’s a joint activity,” adds Kovaleva.

The traditional “Amazing Race” activity, in which the new students would visit sites around the city, will still take place on Friday, September 3rd. This time, it will run as a virtual scavenger hunt, with students looking on google maps to find iconic U of T and Toronto locations. The Dental Students’ Society will host a trivia night that evening, so that first years can mingle with upper year students.

Despite the difficulties posed by mounting virtual orientation events, the organizers feel that the students are getting into the school spirit. “It seems like they’re excited,” says Marcine. “They’re proud of themselves.”

The organizers are getting excited, too. And they’re learning new skills. Park says that due to the pandemic, she’s become proficient at Zoom. “I’ve done a lot of experiments with breakout rooms and where you share your screen. That’s a win for us,” she adds.

Kovaleva adds that, for her, one of the most important takeaways from this O Week is flexibility, a skill she’ll need as a dentist. “Being able to adapt and change plans on the go and not being stuck in one mindset and one schedule. I guess [I’ve learned to] be more flexible and adapt more to situations.”

O Week 2020 officially runs from Wednesday, September 2nd through Friday, September 4th. Financial assistance and planning for O Week was supported by the student services office, the office of student life and the alumni office. The alumni office additionally created and distributed swag bag ‘orientation kits’ for incoming students.

Photo: University College, U of T (Jeff Comber)