Freshmen Join Campus Life

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Posted on August 19, 2020

Thomas Becnel

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For a semi-virtual celebration of the annual Honors College retreat, nearly 100 freshmen introduced themselves at the University of South Alabama through a mix of Zoom sessions and masked get-togethers.

They started online, with everything from serious programs to light-hearted games. On campus, they gathered in person at Moulton Bell Tower and Alumni Plaza and shared socially distanced meals outside Seamen’s Bethel, the historic building that is home to the college.

For many incoming honors students, last week’s retreat served as a head start for getting settled, making friends and starting a college career.

“I’m an introvert at heart, so I wanted to use this opportunity to meet people,” said Savannah Dinkel, a freshman from Mobile. “I wanted to be part of a community.”

She and her roommate, Lauren Gaspard of Pensacola, bonded at an ice cream shop just off campus. A brownie milkshake and cookie dough sandwich sealed the deal.

“We were like, OK,” Gaspard said, laughing. “We like each other.”

The Honors College freshmen join new and returning students this week as classes begin. Week of Welcome and Beyond events include first day of school photos, online scavenger hunts, Greek recruitment, RecFest 2020 and Water Balloons of Welcome, where members of the ImprovUSA troupe will to make students laugh. If they don’t, students get to throw water balloons at cast members.

Highlights of the 2020 fall semester will include the first-ever home football game on the South campus. Hancock Whitney Stadium will open at 6 p.m. Sept. 12 with the Jaguars hosting Tulane University.

For students at the Honors College, the annual retreat means a great deal. The college takes pride in its spirit and camaraderie. Students learn about everything from advanced courses to undergraduate research.

Jose Pardo Granados, another freshman from Mobile, is following an older brother through the Honors College.

“He said it was a close-knit community,” said Pardo Granados. “And getting into the whole research process interests me.”

Dr. Kathy Cooke, dean of the Honors College, asked freshmen to think about goals for their educational journey, emphasizing the word “matter,” which they had written about in their application essays. She also told them to have fun. The challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and a virtual setting brought out the best in many students.

“My experience with this retreat tells me that we really can create opportunities under adverse conditions,” she said. “For instance, students had a virtual scavenger hunt on Thursday afternoon – they had to build forts, and theme songs, and podcasts, all virtually.  When they shared with the group, I was stunned, though I shouldn't have been, by their creativity and insight. They had me laughing so hard I cried.”

At some point, Cooke hopes to continue the Honors College Retreat in an outdoor setting.

"We had to defer our in-person retreat this year, and temporarily substitute our usual activities at Camp Grace and on campus with virtual options,” she said. “We look forward to getting on a real ropes course, challenging ourselves together 30 feet above the ground."

Traditionally, the retreat is a bonding experience. Years later, students remember the classmates they met while holding on to a rope.

“I met the majority of my friend group at my first retreat,” said Malena Butler, president of the Honors College Association. “It’s a chance to meet people before classes even start.”

This year, she worked long hours to help create and organize virtual events for the first time. “I was stressed,” Butler said, “worrying about how everything would work.”

Brianna Mitchell and Emily Quarry, also students in the Honors College Association, helped run group sessions with about 10 freshmen. The Zoom meetings were online, but the two of them were perched in front of laptops in the doorways of their rooms in the Gamma 6 residence hall.

Sometimes they looked up and laughed at each other. Sometimes they shouted across the balcony. Sometimes they didn’t.

“I can’t hear you,” Quarry said at one point. “Text me.”

Soon they were leading freshmen through games of Two Truths and a Lie, where students got to talk about themselves and then invent fake stories. The moderators kept things moving. They were spirited hosts.

“Let’s get it, Queen,” Quarry said to Mitchell.

“This is so exciting,” Mitchell told the newcomers. “Hi, y’all.”

Honors College freshmen had time to explore campus. Group texts flew back and forth. One group gathered at Bell Tower for an informal meet-and-greet.

Grace Coppinger, from Union, Mo., a small town outside of St. Louis, wore what looked like a brand new “South Alabama” T-shirt. She joked about everyone sweating in the sun.

“It’s very hard with all the masks and social distancing,” she said. “But I really want to meet people.”

Darius Haynes of Mobile wore all black, which is his style, even on the hottest of August days. He described himself as a “car guy” who admires the ’69 Dodge Challenger R/T. During one group exercise, he had to explain “yee yee,” a country expression of pure excitement or happiness.

The virtual sessions gave him a chance to network and learn more about his classmates.

“It worked; I liked it,” Haynes said. “When I first heard about the Honors College, I liked the part about intellectual curiosity. And academics. You know, successful people have successful friends.”

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