In many ways, my sophomore arrival experience was quite similar to the first time I stepped on campus as a first year student. I was still excited, a bit anxious, and in awe of the abundant buttresses and spires. The weather was much the same and I arrived at roughly the same time. Yet when I walked onto the Old Campus quad, I also experienced a rather nostalgic moment. The fence railings reminded me of spontaneous snowball fights. A cluster of oak trees took me back to memories of pickup soccer matches; we used the trunks as makeshift goal posts. It seemed that everywhere I looked, I was reminded of an experience or an event. The swell of emotions only reinforced my excitement at returning early to campus to work as a Cultural Connections aide.
Cultural Connections (CC) is a pre-orientation program offered to incoming freshmen and led by students entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year at Yale. Many of the aides participated in CC during their freshman year, making the program somewhat of a web of CC experiences.
For me, Cultural Connections was the perfect introduction to Yale. I met many of my current friends during my first hours of CC. Since I arrived a week prior to my suite-mates, I figured out how to navigate campus long before they arrived. Perhaps most important, I felt a sense of belonging within my first days of living on campus. Together, all of CC’s benefits formed one of the most pivotal experiences of my freshman year.
As a Cultural Connections aide, my responsibilities and experiences changed dramatically. I think the fact that students facilitate many of the CC events makes the program all the more significant for the incoming class. As a freshman, it helped me understand that my Yale experience was going to be what I made of it. As a sophomore, it made me cognizant that students have a duty to support both themselves and the larger Yale community. My job was not simply to make sure the program went off without a hitch, but also to make sure the new freshman class had a wonderful introduction to college life at Yale.
I spent my first day with the Class of 2015 moving all of their belongings into their temporary rooms (Many pre-orientation programs place students in temporary rooms until their actual accommodations are ready on the campus wide move-in-day.). While moving can be hectic, it’s also a time to talk to people about where they’re from and how long it took them to get to their destination. I met people who had driven half an hour from a neighboring town and others who had flown in from as far as Hawaii. Every student’s story was unique and really encapsulated the essence of what Cultural Connections is supposed to be.
The head of CC, Dean Theodore Van Alst, captured the program’s sense of community in his opening remarks. After initially welcoming the participants, Dean Van Alst welcomed us all in the language of his ancestors, the Lakota Sioux: “Mitakuye Oyasin.” In English this translates to “all my relations” or “we are all related.” This idea of connection and togetherness is central to the philosophy of both CC and the Yale community.
Even though we come from varying walks of life all of us are part of a larger group. The differences we have due to our geographic and ancestral homes only serve to make the Yale community all the more rich.
