The Nicholls Orientation Team traveled to Clemson University for the Southern Regional Orientation Workshop, where they placed first in the skit competition and second in the banner competition.  
The annual conference held on March 14-16 was a gathering of student ambassadors and orientation leaders across the entire southern region.
Laurie LaRose, director of orientations and special recruitment events, explained that Nicholls falls under the southern region of the Association for Orientation, Transition and Retention in Higher Education. This region is composed of all the states from Louisiana up to Kentucky, and all the way to the east coast.
“There were 2,400 people in attendance at the conference and 80 schools who went to SROW,” LaRose said.
“Its main purpose is for schools to get together, share ideas and learn from each other about different things that we can do to improve our program training for the orientation leaders,” LaRose said. “So they can learn to be better leaders for Nicholls.”
Another component of SROW is the friendly competitions such as song, skit, dance, banner and t-shirt design.
The theme of the conference was “Srocus Pocus,” a play on words regarding the magical Harry Potter novels. The banner competition required students to incorporate Nicholls and the workshop’s theme into a poster.
It had been a while since Nicholls had won the skit competition, but LaRose said that people were still talking about their first place skit from three years ago.
“We put the time and effort into [the skit], not only to compete at SROW, but also to perform it at every orientation,” LaRose said.
This year’s “Hunger Games” themed skit, even though it is only four minutes long, is a great commercial for Nicholls. It showcases different majors, opportunities for involvement and other activities that are offered on campus.
Leon Hutchinson, a marketing senior from Bourg and former orientation team member, explained, “When it comes to selecting members for the program, there is a team dynamic that our bosses come up with each year.”
“It includes the need for people possessing leadership qualities, outgoing personality traits and above all, passion for our University. It was an honor to have been able to participate on the 2012-2013 orientation team,” Hutchinson said.
“We try to choose students that represent the whole University,” LaRose said. “We want to pick different types of students who are involved in different things that all come together and just love Nicholls and want to represent Nicholls.”
LaRose called the orientation team her “best recruiting tool,” which is why these coveted jobs are taken very seriously. Their job is to orient new students and also seal the deal with the new recruits who are choosing a university to attend.
“The last piece of the recruitment puzzle is orientation. Just because a student comes here and goes to orientation doesn’t mean they will enroll in classes,” LaRose said. “Coming to orientation might make or break their Nicholls experience.”
“Having the chance to impact incoming freshmen and new students was something that made my college experience so much better,” Hutchinson said.