BU COMMUNITY

After successful completion of Week Two of FY101, students will be able to:

  • Identify co-curricular activities that align with interests and goals
  • Navigate Terrier Central/SAO Website and other resources to learn about and join activities of interest  
  • Discover the skills and practices necessary to make personal connections  
  • Make personal connections with other students and staff in FY101

Week Two Outline:

    Getting Involved (google doc outline here)

    • Icebreaker/Name Game
    • Highs & Lows of the week
    • Intro to Getting Involved
      • What does it mean to get involved?
        • Endless options for involvement: Student organizations, on or off campus jobs, Residence Hall Associations, Community Service Center, Howard Thurman Center, research, athletics, religious life, etc 
      • Why is it important to get involved?
        • Can help you define your interests academically, personally, professionally
        • Helps you get the most out of your (very expensive) education
        • All research in higher ed says students who are involved are more satisfied with their college experience
      • What does getting involved look like?
        • Have your Peer Mentor share a few things they are involved in and what they have gained from them. Emphasize the difference in attendance expectations between student organizations (can join and attend meetings, etc when it suits you) vs a work study job (where you have to show up for all of your shifts) or research (you are expected to show up for specific hours and complete specific tasks). Have them describe what happens at a club meeting in order to demystify clubs in college and help your students see how they might meet people through getting involved. 
    • Finding Opportunities- Peer Mentor shows class how to use Terrier Central/SAO Organization Website to find student organizations of interest at BU. Peer Mentor can also show how to find additional opportunities for involvement that are not on the SAO website:
    • Activities to find connections among interests: (choose one or make up your own!)
      • Concentric Circles- Getting involved!: (get your students in two equal circles, one interior and one exterior so every student is facing another student. Shift the outside circle one to the right after each question so they talk to a new student for each prompt):
        • What was your favorite activity in high school?
        • What was something you did in high school/ your last institution that you don’t want to continue?
        • What is something you did in high school/your last institution that you do want to continue?
        • What is something new you want to try at BU?
      • Common Interests– Have students choose one of four corners. Once they select their area of interest have them find something they would each want to join individually and one thing of interest to their whole group (they can use Terrier Central and other BU websites to find opportunities) and share back with the class what was of interest to the whole group:
        • Academic Opportunities
        • Cultural Opportunities
        • Athletic Opportunities
        • Community Service Opportunities
      • Scavenger Hunts- Break your class into groups of 4-5 students. Give them 15-20 minutes to complete as much of the George Sherman Union or 100 Bay State Rd Scavenger Hunt as possible. When time is up, have them share their answers/selfies to the class and award a winner (this activity would work in other class session as well)
      • Make your own organization- Break your class into groups of 4-5 students. Give them 5 minutes to get to know each other- prompt them with questions about interests, high school activities, majors, skills etc. Then have them collectively make up a student organization they could run together based on their skills and interests. Make sure it doesn’t already exist with SAO and then share your organization’s title and mission statement with the class.
      • CAS Opportunities- Have your students break into groups by academic division based on their major (Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Computer Science/Math/Economics, Humanities and Undeclared). In their groups, review their division’s resource guides and find at least one thing they are all interested in pursuing, then have each group share out with the class.
      • CAS Resource Guides by Academic Division
    • De-brief as a group… have students attended any club meetings yet? Gotten a job on campus, etc? How is their exploration going?
      Share Instructor/PM experiences of how you find what makes you come alive in college vs. just doing things to put them on a resume
      Note: Encourage students to attend a general interest meeting or event this week!
    • CAS Student Programs & Leadership (OSPL) runs the First Year Experience, events in the fall semester specifically for first-year students and first-semester transfers.These events are meant to help our newest undergraduates, both first-years and transfer students, transition into the intellectual, social, and cultural community of Boston University. The more events you attend, the more rewards you are eligible to receive. All students are welcome to attend; rewards program is limited to CAS First-Years, CAS First Semester Transfers, and all students enrolled in FY101.