Fall 2016

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New Student & Transition Programs

What’s InsideNew Student OrientationGap ExperienceFirst-Year Summer ExperiencesStudent & Alumni Spotlight Connect With Us!

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New Student orientation was off to a fast start in 2016! We hired 150 incredible orientation leaders out of a record breaking 240 applicants in the spring! Training was held during the spring as well as in August prior to Move-In Day. Head staff prepared for August by learning, leading and team building at the Southern Regional Orientation Workshop at East Carolina University.

Our head staffers, Abbie Dalton and Patrick Achey, were awarded “Best Problem-Solving” for their work in Graduate Student Case Study Competition. Our Head Staffers were voted 1st place in the Spirit Competition by all of he other attending colleges and universities!

The preparation and hard work of all of the orientation leaders and head staff was endless, however paid off on Move-In Day. Our Orientation Leaders helped to orient 1539 new students and just over 200 international students to Elon and welcomed them to the close-knit community here on campus.

We are also extremely excited to announce that Lindsey Wheeler has been chosen as the New Student Orientation Coordinator for this upcoming year!

Orientation

Abbie DaltonNew Student OrientationCoordinator 2016

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Casey Tate (Head Team Captain) Lindsay Wheeler (Orientation Coordinator 2017) Orientation Coor-dinator 2016 (Abbie Dalton) (L to R)

Move-In Day 2015!

Patrick Achey and Abbie Dalton (Head Staff)

First Year students help each other move into their dorms

Members of the O-Team help move in first year students

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Caroline CirbyGap Program Student Coordinator

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Old Faithful Geysey in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Gap Cohort at Grand Teton National Park

The 2015 Gap cohort had a wonderful time travelling across the United States and then finishing off their first semester of college with a six-week adventure in Costa Rica! Prior to Costa Rica, students moved from South Dakota to Missouri then West Virginia and Washington D.C. While in St. Louis, students helped to collect food from an urban garden, as well as learned about food insecurity and the value of having access to fresh food. They then moved on to Mullens, West Virginia where they learned about RAIL-History. RAIL History is an organization created to combat poverty in the West Virginia coalfields. Their final stop before heading to Costa Rica was in Washington D.C. where students studied homelessness and social awareness.

Recap on Gap 2015!

ExperienceThe Gappers officially began their semester in August off the trails of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in Lander, Wyoming, for a little over a week and then made their transition into the Service Learning portion of the semester. To kick off the transition to service-learning, students participated in service-learning orientation, learning about the community partners they served with over the course of their first five weeks. On the way, they spent some time exploring Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks and and the first National Monument (Devils Tower).

We have some exciting changes for this semester, including our current service-learning site, the Cheyenne River Youth Project in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. Dana Carnes, Interim Director of the Center for Leadership, joined Elizabeth Coder, Gap Coordinator, and the students for their week in South Dakota. While on the reservation, students spent time volunteering on the Cheyenne River Reservation and learned about the history, traditions, and culture of the Reservation.

Additionally, the study abroad portion of the Gap Experience will move this year from Costa Rica to Spain! We are so excited to explore a new Spanish-speaking country and learn about and explore the beautiful city of Alicante! As a bonus, some of our Gap Alumni are spending their semesters abroad in other parts of Spain, and the current gappers hope to meet up with them while we’re there.

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Thank You FSE Facilitators!

Engage (formerly known as Pre-Serve): Anthony Fraden, Emma Ridgeway, Will Tracy

Innovation: Colton Cadarette, Hallee Bernstein

First-Year Summer

The First-Year Summer Experiences staff members were very excited to announce the student facilitators for summer 2016 experiences. There was a record high number of 44 applicants this spring, and we are excited to announce that they all did an amazing job with our incoming first years.

We just had our annual First Year Summer Experiences Reunion where students were given the chance to meet people who participated in other programs this summer and learn about the different experiences they had.

Summer Experiences are something available to all incoming students and gives them the opportunity to take part in something before making their way on campus.

Colleen FitzpatrickFirst-Year Summer Experiences Student Coordinator

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How did participating in a FirstYear Summer Experience help you?

“I wanted to get to know likeminded people before coming to Elon. I also was interested in familiarizing myself with service opportunities in Alamance County. The program played a huge role in helping me feel comfortable when I got to campus. I hang out with my Engage friends almost every day and they’ve been a great cohort to have at Elon.”

“During the program, I learned how to delve deeply in service work beyond just showing up somewhere once and never thinking about it again. Engage stressed the importance of understanding why service work is important and investing in causes that matter to me. Engage helped me learn how to be comfortable trying new things I’m uncomfortable with. In my college career, I plan to do things outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself as much as I can.”

-Anne LeMasters, Engage 2016

Adventures in Leadership: Taylor Cassidy, Michael Gibeley, Marley Goetz, Jack Hartmann, Hanna Kraus, Lyn Nelson, Madisen Norton, Alex Pfeiff

Discovery: Elizabeth McDonald, Gabe Thornton

StudentLexy RobertsClass of 2019

Just two weeks after transferring to Elon University, Texan native Lexy Roberts already feels at home. Roberts feels that she has already found the perfect fit after transferring to Elon from the University of San Diego. “I immediately recognized the campus culture and all of the students’ willingness to be actively engaged and leave a positive legacy at Elon.”

Roberts looks forward to the challenging courses that Elon has to offer as well as how she can improve herself in the amount of time she has here. Roberts is a Public Health Major with a Nueroscience Minor.

AlumniKim LilienthalClass of 2014

This fall, the NSTP office welcomed alumni Kim Lilienthal as Coordinator of New Student and Transition Programs. Kim served as a First Year Student Experience Facilitator for Discovery while at Elon. She also served as a member of Head Staff in 2012 and 2013 after loving her experience as an orienation leader.

After graduating from Elon in 2014, Lilienthal went on to further her education at North Carolina State University, where she received an MA in English Rhetoric and Composition. Lilienthal was able to use what she learned from her interdisciplinary courses to prepare for the position that she currently holds with NSTP. “I love Elon and wanted to bring some of what I learned and implement it into New Student Orientation.”

This summer Kim Lilienthal was proposed to by her fiance whom she met while at Elon. Kim Lilitenthal and her fiancé both served as orientation leaders as students at Elon.

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Spotlight

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Follow Us!

Like Elon NSTP on Facebook

Visit the new NSTP website

Like Elon Gap Experience on Facebook

Like Elon New Student Orientation on Facebook

Follow @ElonNSTP on Twitter

Follow the Gap Semester Program Blog

Need a Planner?Are you in need of a planner to organize all of your upcoming the dates and meetings? Stop by the NSTP office in Moseley 206 to grab a complimentary Elon Planner!

Visit with NSTP this Homecoming!The NSTP office is teaming up with the Office of Alumni Engagement to host our first ever NSTP Alumni Homecoming Event! We are encouraging anyone who has been involved with NSTP to stop by our tent on Saturday, October 22nd before heading into the stadium! We will be located among the Alumni tents near Lake Mary Nell. We will also be having an open house from 4-5pm in Moseley 206, Friday, October 21st before the Friday Night Block Party that will be held on Haggard Avenue. We hope to see you there!