As a student gets accepted to the university, they need to sign up for orientation where an Orientation Leader takes them through a day filled with learning about the university. The time has come, and the 2017 Orientation Leaders have been selected.

While looking at the applicants, there are certain things that admissions looks for when searching for Orientation Leaders.

“We look for students who will be able to represent the population of Southeastern,” said Keslie Smith, assistant director of admissions. “We try to get a very diverse group of students who have positive attitudes and are strong academic leaders.” 

While they do search for students who are outgoing, Smith explains they look at a student’s individuality.

“There isn’t one thing that stands out,” said Smith. “We look at each person as an individual to see what they can bring to the team. You don’t want an entire team of loud ‘cheerleaders.’ You need those that are silent leaders as well.” 

Orientation Leaders not only show students around campus, but they show new students what it is like to be a lion. 

“I think that it means someone who loves to help others and is dedicated to Southeastern,” said Smith. “The Orientation Leaders become the ‘face’ of Southeastern, the majority of the time, the Orientation Leaders are the first students that the beginning freshmen will meet on campus. We want them to be able to display what it means to be a Southeastern student. The Orientation Leaders are really dedicated to their school work and they know that academics come first.”

As an Orientation Leader, there is a training process that begins in the spring semester where they will learn valuable information. 

“We meet for these training sessions every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the spring semester,” said Smith. “Once the summer semester begins, they will host seven orientation programs: one summer school program for students beginning the summer semester, five summer orientation programs for students beginning the fall semester and one fall orientation program right before school begins. These orientation programs take place every Wednesday and Thursday. However, they work with us Monday through Thursday to prep for each week.”     

The 2017 Orientation Leaders that have been selected are Taryn Arcement, Jody Bennett, Jasmine Bickham, Cierra Calloway, Brianna Carter, Zoe Clement, Ruby Cramer, Alexus Dillon, Dylan Domangue, Amber Grace Garrard, Tia Harris, Jaycie Jones, Daryl Julien, Sakeena Kadri, Ali LeBourgeois, Selena LeMaire, Aesha Magee, Jill Munchausen, Trenton Nichols, La’vel Phillips, Earl Poole, Tevin Pugh, Benjamin Reaux, Wesley Romano, John Sartori, Imari Simmons, Harlan Thorpe, Kayleigh Tutt, Alberto Valenzuela, Brian Williams and Camry Williams.

If a student would like to apply to be an Orientation Leader for 2018, they can fill out an online application.

“Students first will fill out the online application, then attend one of our group interview sessions and finally, this year, they will submit a video showing us what they love about Southeastern,” said Smith. “The group interview really allows us to see how well they can speak in front of others. This is the first year that we have asked them to provide us with a video, and we were really able to see their personalities and creativity.”