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Name: Isaac Torres
Major: Forensic Chemistry
Classification: Senior
Hometown: Beaumont, Texas

Q: What’s one resource or service at Lamar you think every new student should know about?

A: One resource that every student should know about is STARS, the student tutoring and retention services. If there’s a student who is scared to ask a professor, they could go to them, and then they can get more  private one-on-one help.

Q: What advice would you give a student who's nervous about starting college?

A: The advice I’d give is to just get to know people. One of the great things about this campus is how accepting it is. Everyone’s really welcoming, and no one judges you. That was something I was worried about at first, but I quickly realized I didn’t need to be. Everyone has been so kind and supportive.

Name: Alexander Lara
Major: English
Classification: Junior
Hometown: Houston, Texas

Q: What’s one resource or service at Lamar you think every new student should know about?
A: It would be counseling at the Student Health Center. I know that last semester was really hard, and counseling really helped me get back on my feet.

Q: What’s your go-to way to get involved or meet people?
A: It's really about stopping yourself from holding back and not being afraid of judgment. Talk to new people, walk up to someone and ask how they're doing, what they're involved in, and to just go with it. Explore the campus together, grow together, and really interact with everyone at Lamar.

Name: Kim Lee
Major: Biology (Pre-Dental)
Classification: Sophomore
Hometown: Port Neches, Texas

Q: What’s one thing you hope every new student takes away from Orientation?
A: Take advantage of the office hours professors have because even if you think they're they won't help at all, professors respect that you show up.

Q: What are you most excited about for Orientation this year?
A: The run outs where we do a dance, and then we perform skits afterward.

Name: Michael Vu
Major: Finance & Human Resource Management
Classification: Senior
Hometown: Orange, Texas

Q: What’s one resource or service at Lamar you think every new student should know about?
A: I think students should take advantage of the Tutoring Center. I work in the business tutoring center, and it's a great way to get help in a more comfortable, relaxed setting. It really helps break things down and makes learning easier, so I definitely recommend everyone use it.

Q: What are you most excited about for Orientation this year?
A: I'm most excited for our run out because that's going to be a fun surprise for the freshmen. I won’t spoil it, but let’s just say it involves a little dance number. I'm really looking forward to it. Honestly, that's the main reason I signed up to be an Orientation Leader.

Name: Mario Miguel
Major: Accounting
Classification: Sophomore
Hometown: Groves, Texas

Q: What are you most excited about for Orientation this year?
A: I’m excited to meet all the new students and see a lot of new faces, hopefully some familiar ones too. But yeah, I’m really just looking forward to connecting with everyone.

Q: What’s one thing you hope every new student takes away from Orientation?
A: I just want them to feel welcomed here and not be afraid to leave their home—what I’d call their home nest.

Name: Emily Ramos
Major: Biology (Pre-Pharmacy)
Classification: Junior
Hometown: Port Arthur, Texas

Q: What’s one thing you hope every new student takes away from Orientation?
A: I hope that they'll feel comfortable here and excited to start this new journey.

Q: What’s one resource or service at Lamar you think every new student should know about?
A: I would say the tutoring center. They help a lot with biology during those first two classes.

Name: Shelby Lee      
Major: Nursing
Classification: Junior
Hometown:  Vidor, Texas

Q: What’s your go-to way to get involved or meet people?
A: As a commuter, I found friends in my classes, and just started to be more outspoken.

Q:  What’s one resource or service at Lamar you think every new student should know about?
A: The biggest resource that I always like to advocate for is the Accessibility Resource Center (ARC) because you could have a problem that you don't even know you have, and they'll help you.

Name: Ashli Perry
Major: History
Classification: Sophomore
Hometown: Lumberton, Texas

Q: What’s something you wish someone had told you at Orientation?
A: You're fully in charge of yourself. Also, the grading system can be kind of weird compared to high school. Like, seriously, look at the syllabus, memorize it. If you're in a class with a lot of graded assignments, don't stress about getting an A on every single one. But if you're in a class with just three tests and that’s your entire grade, you better clock in and stay on top of it.

Q: What helped you feel at home when you were a new student?
A: Shout out to my Orientation Leader, Kara! I love you forever. Okay, here’s the story: it was the first week of classes, during Week of Welcome. I kept writing events down in my planner and telling myself to take off work so I could go but then I’d end up skipping them. Finally, on the last day, I told myself, “You can’t be a loser, you have to go to at least one event.” And who do I run into? Kara. We ended up hanging out all night, and before the night was over, she told me, “Hey, you should apply to be an Orientation Leader when applications open.”

Name: Camrynn Clark
Major: Exercise Science
Classification: Sophomore
Hometown: Wellsville, Kansas

Q: What’s your go-to way to get involved or meet people?
A: I like meeting new people at networking events and tabling events. It’s a great way to see what’s out there, collect contact info, and if something feels like a good fit for me, I’ll dive deeper into it.

Q: What’s something you wish someone had told you at Orientation?
A: Make sure to use all the resources available to you. We pay for things like the Student Health Center and the Rec Center, so we should take full advantage of them. And don’t be afraid to ask for help, it really goes a long way when you speak up.

Name: Cindy Giang
Major: Biology
Classification: Junior
Hometown:  Beaumont, Texas

Q: What’s something you wish someone had told you at Orientation?
A: I really wish someone had told me to meet with my advisor earlier. I ended up doing everything last minute. I just wish someone had been there to guide me. Like, to tell me where to go for advising and what steps to take. I figured it out on my own, but it would’ve made a big difference to have someone there to help.         

Q: What helped you feel at home when you were a new student?
A: My older friends gave me a lot of motivation and support. They basically gave me a map, showing me where to go, how to study, and how to navigate everything. I’m really thankful for them. I love you guys so much!

Q: What are you most excited about for Orientation this year?
A: I’m excited about welcoming new students and getting to know new faces around campus. Also, I’m looking forward to being a mentor who can help new students. I was an Orientation Leader last year, and the thing that stood out most to me was afterwards when my people from my small group would see me around and wave at me on campus. So, that was really cool.

Q: What helped you feel at home when you were a new student?
A: It was really the community. People are so welcoming at Lamar, and there’s always somebody waiting to help you. The friendships you make here will last a lifetime. I really like that about Lamar. 

Name: Gavin Calcote
Major: Criminal Justice
Classification: Sophomore
Hometown:  Jasper, Texas

Q: What is one thing that you hope every new student takes away from Orientation?
A: I hope that they feel welcome here at Lamar, and that they know that they have resources available to them. Whether they’re struggling with classes or struggling in general, there’s always going to be someone there to talk to, or somebody who is going to be there to help you. 

Q: What helped you feel at home when you were a new student?
A: What really helped me was the friends that I made here when I was in Greek Life. They helped me make more friends than what I had when I got here. Beforehand, I wasn’t the most social, but once I started getting into more organizations and once I became an Orientation Leader, I had friends that were built around me. It also

Name: Rayna Christy
Major: Communications – Journalism
Classification: Sophomore
Hometown:  Orange, Texas

Q: How do you plan to help incoming students feel more comfortable and confident?
A: One thing I want to do to help incoming students feel more confident is to let them know that there are a lot of people here who can help. It’s not just professors who are here to teach them, or content to learn, there’s a family here at Lamar, and they’ll help you with anything that comes your way. Whether it’s mental health issues, family issues, etc., there’s going to be somebody who’s always here for you.

Q: What is your go-to way to get involved or meet people?
A: So, I’m one of the editors for the University Press, so that is my go-to. I started this past year as a contributing staff writer. I just love to meet the people who I’m interviewing and form a relationship with them even beyond their story. Even if you’re not on staff, you can write stories and interview people and get to know them.

Name: Major Copeland
Major: Finance
Classification: Sophomore
Hometown: Orange, Texas

Q: How do you plan to help incoming students feel more comfortable and confident?
A: So, really what helped me was other people interacting with me and giving me tips, so I plan to do the same thing through Orientation. I want to give them someone to connect with.  

Q: What’s something that you wish someone had told you at your Orientation?
A: No one really prepared me for how different college was than high school. To be honest, I didn’t study in high school. It was a breeze. I learned in college really quickly, after I failed my first few quizzes, that you probably should study. It’s a lot different.  

Name: Rishi Komara
Major: Pre-Nursing
Classification: Sophomore
Hometown:  Vizag, India

Q: What is your go-to way to get involved or meet people?
A: I started off with the LU Lead program, the leadership program we have here on campus. I would say that’s the one to start with since you learn leadership skills to participate in different organizations.   

Q: What is something that you wish someone had told you at Orientation?
A: Start off getting involved on campus as soon as you can. My first two semesters I was just going to classes and going back home, so I wish someone had told me to get involved right away.  

Name: Kailyn Young
Major: Psychology
Classification: Junior
Hometown:  Orangefield, Texas

Q: How do you plan to help incoming students feel more comfortable and confident?
A: I feel that a really big thing to focus on is that most of the freshmen are scared or going through the same thing. It’s okay to put yourself out there, because you’re going to be able to find people that you can connect with. You’ll eventually start to feel more confident and comfortable as yourself after putting yourself out there more.

Q: What is your go-to way to get involved or meet people?
A: LU sends out a lot of the events through the LU Weekly Update newsletter on Mondays, and I like to read about it and see if there are any events going on that work with my schedule. I try to bring at least one friend with me sometimes, but it’s also good to go by yourself sometimes so you have to put yourself out there and talk to more people. I did that with the Cherry Haunted House, and I was able to make a lot of friends through that.

Name: April Mahan
Major: Education
Classification: Junior
Hometown:  Vidor, Texas

Q: What is something that you wish someone had told you at Orientation?
A: It’s not like high school. You have to study. Create your own elaborate study plan that you need to stick to, and that will help you pass your classes.

Q: What is one resource or service at Lamar that you think every new student should know about?

A: I know a lot of them know about the recreational center, but I don’t think that a lot of students realize that the gym is free and they don’t have to pay for outside memberships to outside gyms. It’s part of your tuition. There’s a rock wall, pool, ping pong tables, air hockey, and so much more. 

Name: Lizzie Drago
Major: Communications – Public Relations
Classification: Senior
Hometown:  Nederland, Texas

Q: What is your go-to way to get involved or meet people?
A: Join organizations on campus. At the beginning of each semester there are involvement fairs on campus. Students can get acquainted with the organizations that they want to join. They have sign-up sheets where they can capture your contact information and then that keeps you in the loop on events, etc. Also, working on campus is a good way to stay involved. I work in the Office of Alumni Affairs, and it’s allowed me to meet more faculty and staff and other students.

Q: How do you plan to help incoming students feel more comfortable and confident?

A: By letting them know that it is an adjustment, and you might not be living with your parents anymore, but you’re around a group of people who are going through the exact same thing. There are so many resources on campus and so many different people there to help. I’ve never had a bad experience whenever I’ve asked for help on campus.

Name: Humberto Cervantes
Major: Finance & Marketing
Classification: Senior
Hometown:  Lancaster, South Carolina

Q: What’s one thing that you hope every new student takes away from Orientation?
A: I would say friends, hopefully. Whenever I came my freshman year for my Orientation, I didn’t grasp the fact that I’d have to make friends. I took it almost as “high school 2.0” and just went to class and then went home. It wasn’t until my sophomore year that I met a good friend and started to get more involved in all of this that things started to happen. My advice would be to get a little uncomfortable and get out of your shell when you can. Friends will come.

Q: What advice would you give a student who’s nervous about starting college?

A: Since I was a first-generation student, I was nervous about everything. It’s okay to be nervous. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s all good. The difference between high school and college is night and day. You’ll learn and adapt at your own pace. You’ve got this. Believe in yourself, and you’ll get there. There are professors who will help you walk through the process as well.