Starting high school is a nerve-wracking experience. Whether it’s worrying about finishing homework or juggling extracurriculars, almost everyone is concerned about something when they start their high school journey. Fitting in, however, is the most daunting task for many rising freshmen, especially when starting at a new school. Orientation was a fantastic way for new students to integrate into Concord Academy and start to form friendships.
Each August, new students at CA attend a weekend of orientation, including a tradition known as First Night. During orientation, new day students, along with their new boarding student peers, spend a night in the houses to get a taste of boarding life and bond with one another. When asked about her thoughts on First Night, Sarah Yeh, Associate Head for Teaching, Learning, and Faculty, said, “First Night is an opportunity to get a chance for everyone to see how CA works as a living, breathing community.”
Upon arriving, we were split into orientation groups with whom we spent the majority of our time. We did countless icebreakers to get to know the other students in our group and played games together such as Spikeball. Although I was skeptical about orientation at first, I soon got to know many other students. In a conversation about what she thought about First Night, Emily He ’28 remarked, “I thought it was a lot of fun—[I] met a lot of new people, and I met a lot of people I didn’t realize I knew! I think orientation was definitely a good way to get closer with other people.”
One of the most notable activities new students participate in during First Night is square dancing. The hour was filled with laughter, fun, and excitement as students got to know their classmates and other students at CA. I had braced for an abundance of awkwardness and embarrassment but was shocked to conclude that square dancing was the most memorable part of orientation.
When asked about her thoughts on orientation, Department Head of the Performing Arts Department Jessica Cloytier-Plasse stated, “It’s a great way to bring together [the] community of new students and introduce them quickly to CA and CA’s culture and expectations.” The shared experience of doing something new and out of most students’ comfort zones knitted our ninth-grade class closer together.
Orientation allows students to ease into life at CA. Through icebreakers, games, and square dancing, orientation feels like the start of something new yet incredible.