This January, the Pierre Laclede Honors College held its second annual spring welcome back event. A beginning-of-the-semester occasion meant to bring together new and returning students in the Honors College for a few hours of fun activities.
Dr. Lesley Seiger-Walls, one of the staff overseeing the event, says she and members of PLHCSA (Pierre Laclede Honors College Student Association) envisioned a carnival-like atmosphere where students could move between stations and engage in fun activities with friends and classmates.
“We determined that the honors college needed an event to launch the spring semester in an energizing way for students. While fall always includes orientation and many events, the spring semester starts without much fanfare, and we wanted to correct that. We especially want first-year college students to continue to find good connections and community as they approach their second semester in Cultural Traditions (honors college social science),” said Dr. Sieger-Walls.
This year’s event had a variety of activity stations for attendees to participate in, including a coloring station, board games, trivia, and a station for planning semester goals.
The event also featured support from the honor college’s peer mentor group through the First Year Experience student program. A select number of upper-class students assist first-year students in developing professional attributes and making their overall college transition smoother.
For junior Nyle Pitter, this was his second time attending the event, and his second time as a peer mentor for the freshmen. He says his favorite activity at the spring welcome back event is always trivia.
Sara Williams, a senior, was in charge of this year’s trivia table. She thoroughly enjoyed interacting with students and her fellow peer mentors. “My favorite part of the event was meeting students from other classes who I won’t have a chance to interact with as much, but they’ll know that they have me as a resource as well, or a friend or familiar face on campus.”
For this particular event, the first Friday after spring classes start always seems the best time to launch, says Dr. Sieger-Walls. However, due to the frigid weather, the number of attendees was unexpectedly low. Nevertheless, those who came felt it was a good time spent.
