Coordinating change: former and future coordinators on O-Week

By Lily Harvey     11/19/24 10:41pm

After her Orientation Week experience, Alessa Elkareh knew she wanted to advise. However, when she told her friends, she was met with doubt.

“I really loved O-Week when I did it … And obviously I was going to apply to advise,” Elkareh said. “As I was applying, I was talking to one of my friends … and one of them was like, ‘Why would you do that?’ That conversation really opened my eyes to see that O-Week when I was a freshman catered to an outgoing person with a very high social battery and did not really consider other types of personalities.”

Elkareh said that this very gap inspired her to become one of Baker College’s 2024 O-Week coordinators.

---

---

“O-Week was so great for me and the college transition was something I was really scared for … I wouldn’t change a thing about what happened to me during these college years because it’s been so transformative,” Elkareh, a Baker College junior, said. “And realizing that not everyone felt the same way, I wanted everyone to feel that way.” 

Francesca Nemati, McMurtry College’s 2024 O-Week coordinator, also said she took pride in being able to make changes to O-Week traditions.

“At McMurtry, we have this McScottish dancing that we do during O-Week. In the past it’s been on Zoom, but it’s no fun to dance on Zoom,” Nemati, a McMurtry College junior, said. “This year, we got actual real life instructors. That was something I pushed for and something that we were able to do. I was really happy about that. ”

Editor’s Note: Nemati is the Rice Thresher’s Photo Editor.

Cory Voskanian said he considered applying to coordinate so he could implement changes to Martel College’s O-Week next year.

“I really enjoyed O-Week, but I also saw a lot of change that could be added, and I really wanted to be able to work with it and support it next year,” Voskanian, a Martel College freshman, said.

Despite his initial excitement, Voskanian said he was unable to apply because of his plans to study abroad.

“June 7 is the move-in date on campus, but the latest you can be here is June 14, when they begin having in-person meetings,” Voskanian said. “And while a lot of it can be done over Google Drive, there’s a lot of in-person bonding that happens on campus … With study abroad, I just really had to prioritize which one I wanted to do.”

Another applicant, Logan Betkey, said she also felt the time commitment required could pose a challenge.

“For me particularly, there’s nervousness around balancing being a [coordinator] with being a student-athlete. It’s definitely going to be a challenge, but it’s something I’m really passionate about,” Betkey, a Martel sophomore and member of the swimming and diving team, said.

Barakat Ibrahim, the current student director for O-Week and former Wiess College O-Week coordinator, said that the summer time commitment for coordinating is a challenge for many students.

“You’re giving up a summer, so first of all, you have to be privileged to do so … I understand how privileged I am … I didn’t have to spend my summer with a full-time job or taking care of my family,” Ibrahim, a senior, said. “For some majors, having an internship is really necessary to succeed. And if you’re restricted to having that internship in Houston, you may not have as many opportunities.”

Elkareh agreed that internships and the job’s pay are barriers to coordinating.

“[Coordinating] is a big job — it takes up a lot of your time and the pay that you get is something we’re grateful for for sure,” Elkareh said. “But if you were to do the math to see per-hour pay that that gets you, it’s like, cents. For a lot of majors, especially in a school like Rice, where people feel like they have to be ahead all the time, not doing something productive with your summer is something people worry about.” 

Because of these limitations, some colleges only receive a few applications for coordinators. Aidan Silva, a Duncan College junior, said he coordinated at Martel College for this very reason.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into it, so it scares a lot of people away from applying. So for some colleges, if they get three applicants and only three, that’s just who they’re going to have to take,” Silva said.

Silva said the college culture is also a factor in the number of people applying.

“Martel is one of the quieter colleges,” Silva said. “There’s a strong culture, but it’s not a loud culture as opposed to Sid that’s pretty spirited. They’re loud. They have tons of traditions and I think having that loud-spirited community kind of plays into it as well.”

Silva said that despite being from Duncan, he felt welcomed as a coordinator at Martel.

“I think by the time it got to the summer, or even in adviser training, it really didn’t even feel like I was from a different college anymore,” Silva said.  “I just felt so involved. At that point, there wasn’t anything keeping me from being any different.”

Elkareh said that being a co-coordinator also added to the sense of community she felt.

“I was really excited to work in a team, but I didn’t realize how much bonding we would have through all these things,” Elkareh said. “And how much fun we had doing rooming. We were all in a study room in Kraft with whiteboards filled with students’ names and descriptions … and we’re trying to match people up and joking around and also getting to know each other really well.”

Being a coordinator and working with others also taught Elkareh about herself, she said.

“I think that they knew better when I needed to take a break than I did and vice versa, being able to say ‘Hey, you seem stressed like right now,’ … So like being surrounded by them, I learned about myself as well through that,” Elkareh said.

Despite the high commitment and challenges that come with being an O-Week coordinator, students shared that they are very passionate about the job.

Betkey, who submitted her application last Friday, said she is looking forward to the role if she gets it.

“I'm really excited just to meet the new students, get to learn a lot about them through their forms, and then kind of see them come into their own as students on campus at Martel,” Betkey said.

Elkareh also said connecting with new students was one of the best parts about being a coordinator.

“My favorite part was getting to meet all these people and talk with them and see people that I relate with. I'm like, ‘Wow, I was in that position before and now I'm here’,” Elkareh said. “And being able to give so many people advice on things that I wish others had given me advice on when I was in their position.”

---