Leah HennigWeek of Welcome (WOW) marks the beginning of an exciting journey for incoming students. It offers a chance for students to familiarize themselves with the campus, its facilities, class schedules, professors, and residency options. It’s a prime opportunity for students to explore the various clubs and activities that define campus life.
However, WOW’s current format is far too short for something so pivotal. Trying to pack such a critical experience into just one or two weeks robs students of the time they need to fully explore, make thoughtful decisions, and acclimate to their new surroundings. Extending WOW is not just a suggestion — it’s essential. More time would allow students to properly balance the excitement of exploration with the weight of important decisions.
During WOW, students from all streams of life meet one another, explore the campus, and attend events. For many, these first two weeks shape the rest of their university experience, influencing their social circles, course choices, and involvement in clubs. The decisions they make during this time often define their academic paths and even their future careers. With so much riding on these choices, it’s essential that students have enough time and space to think carefully about them.
Rather than cramming everything into barely two weeks, a gradual rollout of WOW events would allow students to make thoughtful, well-informed choices. Extending the duration of WOW over a longer period would give students room to fully explore their options. This extra time would enable them to process new information, seek advice, and approach their decisions with greater clarity. Spreading key events, club fairs, and academic orientation sessions throughout the first month would help achieve this.
WOW is also a time for fun and adventure, which can make balancing important decisions — like course selections — more challenging. For instance, course drop deadlines typically fall within the first two weeks. This leaves some students overwhelmed and pressured into choices they later regret, sometimes leading to course withdrawals months later.
The urgency to make decisions quickly during WOW is understandable. The deadlines for dropping courses and signing up for extracurriculars and clubs come up quickly. But each opportunity exists to benefit the students and help them grow, both personally and professionally. Students come to this university with the expectation that they will be given every chance to discover themselves and build the foundation for a bright future. That discovery and opportunity shouldn’t be crammed into a couple rushed weeks.
Additionally, having prolonged promotion of student supports can help set students up for success. Unfortunately, these critical services often go unnoticed during WOW, as students prioritize the more exciting activities. Even those who do find out about the services may quickly forget how to access them. Given their importance, it’s crucial to raise awareness of these services.
By extending WOW and allowing more time for these important decisions, students can truly take advantage of these opportunities in a meaningful way. Instead of feeling pressured to make snap judgments, they can engage more deeply with the resources available. Whether it’s exploring a club that aligns with their passions, carefully selecting courses that match their academic goals, or tapping into support services that can ease the transition into university life. This thoughtful engagement would also establish habits of intentional decision-making that will benefit them throughout their university journey and beyond.
In short, WOW is much more than a welcome — it’s a pivotal period that shapes the course of students’ university lives. Thoughtful consideration and a balanced approach are key to ensuring that every student can make the most of it.
