One of the strangest transitions that first-year students must face when arriving on campus in August is one that requires showering in flip-flops and sleeping next to a stranger. The tradition will meet them a month early this year. No, it’s not a summertime fraternity foam party. It’s AARO.
Beginning today, incoming first-year students will be arriving on campus for AARO, a program established at SMU more than 40 years ago to welcome the incoming class and acquaint them with their future four-year home.
AARO participants are required to stay one night in McElvaney Hall, something that the Office of New Student Programs says on its Web site will “provide [AARO attendees] an opportunity to experience residence-hall living at SMU and to interact with the upperclass orientation student leaders also living in McElvaney Hall.” Students will see for the first time what community bathrooms and extra-long twin beds are all about, if only for one evening.
AARO, which stands for Academic Advising, Registration and Orientation, includes two days of informational sessions and activities for first-year students and first-year transfer students enrolling in fall 2007. AARO’s programs feature student and faculty panels that discuss academic requirements and campus expectations, while giving incoming students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the campus and university life.
Through vignettes and short skits, AARO leaders teach first-year students the basics of life at SMU, including how to promote a safe party scene and how to perfect the two-fingered pony hand gesture that symbolizes SMU pride. The theme for the skits the nine AARO leaders will present this year is, “True Life: I’m an SMU student”-a take-off on the melodramatic MTV reality series. The AARO leaders will also discuss resident life, campus diversity and the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.
Senior AARO leader Patricia Blount says that the Office of New Student Programs and the AARO staff have been working with the SMU Police Department to help new students realize the new responsibilities associated with the freedom of being a college student.
“The main thing I want them to realize is that this is an amazing opportunity for them to be what they want to be,” says Blount of the first-year students’ time at SMU. “I hope during their first year they find their place here and connect with people on campus.”
About 125 incoming students attend each of the 12 AARO sessions, meet with their academic advisers and register for fall classes. Academic placement tests are also available in foreign languages and math for an additional fee.
