Ball State University's campus is being invaded. The invaders aren't trying to take over the university, but their presence is hard to miss. Freshman orientation has begun and droves of incoming students and their parents will be roaming around campus whether we like it or not.
Even though packs of roaming incoming freshman can make the simplest tasks on campus difficult, students need to tolerate the situation appropriately to make the inconvenience easier on everyone's part.
There's no doubt that finding a parking spot on a campus that is already starved for space as it is will be more difficult during orientation. Likewise, waiting in line for half an hour at the Atrium for lunch when you only have 10 minutes between classes is enough to ruin anyone's day. What people need to realize, however, is that the problems shouldn't be blamed on the incoming freshmen.
Incoming freshmen don't come to orientation with the goal of upsetting campus operations - they only cause problems because the orientation system forces them to. Every week, hundreds of incoming students and parents flood campus for the required orientation. Then, one short week later, a whole new batch of people are required to come in and usually cause the same headaches as the last group.
It would be easy to become more and more frustrated with orientation as summer progresses, but taking the frustrations out on the incoming freshmen and their parents isn't going to solve any problems. The real problem lies in the fact that the current system of putting small groups through orientation one at a time over multiple weeks is necessary. After all, imagine dealing with all the incoming freshmen in one hellish week instead of spacing everything out to ensure the number of people on campus is at least somewhat manageable.
In the end, freshman orientation provides a valuable experience for incoming students and their parents regardless of the annoyances it causes on campus. Incoming freshmen get an idea of what Ball State is going to be like and parents are reassured that their children are attending a quality university. It might be harder to get around on campus in the upcoming weeks, but it's a small price to pay to ensure incoming students aren't totally clueless when they get here.
In the very near future, the incoming freshmen will be a part of Ball State and not merely invaders. The least we can do is make the situation less painful for everyone by recognizing the true cause of the issue and handling it appropriately now.
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