Eastern Student Kaitlyn Murphy of Mansfield Center to Serve as Head Student Orientation Counselor

2015 Jun 5

Kaitlyn Murphy '15 of Mansfield Center, CT, is one of this year's Head Student Orientation Counselors (SOCs) for the upcoming Student Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR) program at Eastern Connecticut State University.

Murphy got involved with the SOAR program after being involved with the orientation program at her high school, where she embraced the opportunity to welcome students to a new school.

SOAR is Eastern's transitional program for incoming freshmen and transfer students. It is coordinated by the Office of Student Activities and led by students, trained as Student Orientation Counselors (SOCs), who act as guides and mentors for groups of new students.

Murphy and fellow Head SOC Nicholas Dube '17, are in charge of ensuring that the other SOCs are qualified and prepared to lead groups of new students through the multi-session orientation process.

Murphy, who majors in Early Childhood Education and Psychology, has been training for the Head SOC position and preparing for SOAR since January 2015. Among Murphy and Dube's first tasks was sifting through 75 applications, interviewing students and selecting 16 of them to serve as SOCs.

"Being a SOC allows you to encourage students to get involved and make the most of their time here at Eastern," Murphy said. "As a SOC, you're the first face many of the students are interacting with, and it's a great opportunity to make an impact on incoming students."

As a Head SOC, Murphy will co-lead the group of 16 through an intensive week-long training this June, filled with a number of activities and teambuilding exercises.

Murphy, a SOC last year, highlighted the importance of SOCs: "The position is great because it allows students to work with and learn from other student leaders on campus. The amount you learn from each other within the short period of time is incredible."

As a Head SOC, she has much more responsibility than last year, but is excited about the opportunity. "The head SOC position allows me to be behind the scenes of the program. I'm most excited to see how everyone responds to some of the changes we've made to the training and the SOAR program," Murphy said.