Gigi Gaultier
University of Washington
Orientation Leader
Empowering Others Through Education
Last Summer I became an Orientation Leader (OL) with First Year Programs. This job required me to help 400 incoming students adapt to the UW community by introducing them to the campus and what all is offered. I worked closely with new students and their families on a wide variety of topics including academics, student involvement, housing options, and more. This position was based around giving tours, helping students register for courses and lead small group discussions around health and wellness, transitioning to college and school requirements. Each week I was an OL for two different 20 person groups with an overall objective of helping these students feel connected to UW.
Throughout my time as an OL, I gained confidence in my leadership and public speaking abilities. Many of my students opened up to me about their personal stories of overcoming difficult obstacles to attend the University of Washington. Students of different races, genders, sexual preferences, all learning from one another and enriching each other’s’ perspectives on cultures and society. This job inspired me to work harder and become a role model to my students. The biggest skill that I learned from this experience was having a commitment to inclusivity. I left this summer hoping to make UW a more inclusive and equal space by supporting others and empowering under-represented groups. Being an orientation leader helped me discover my passion for working with others while gaining valuable leadership skills.
Orientation Group on Day 2
Part of my role of being an Orientation Leader was based around using my own experiences to help others learn how they can reach their highest potential at the University of Washington. At the end of my first day with each group I guided, I told my students my story about how I got to where I am through all the struggles I’ve faced. It was important to me to let down my walls and be as honest as possible to my students. At this point in orientation was when students really felt like they could trust me as they saw me as I really was and not just an orientation leader. We would spend 10 minutes writing “I Am” poems about where we’ve come from and what defines us. One of the most memorable parts of this experience was hearing students fully open up to me about tough places they’ve been in and how they plan to break down any barriers in their way and continue to be the best they can be. As their OL, it was my responsibility to help support them and show them the resources they would need to be a successful student at UW.
Orientation Group on Day 2
The University of Washington is such a large school it can be incredibly difficult to find a place where you belong. Having thought back to how much I struggled to find my people, I wanted as much as I could to help students feel included and welcomed at this school. I interacted with students from all over the world, each with a unique story and passion. I worked the best to my ability to connect with each of my students and learn what they were about so that I could suggest to them groups on campus that they might enjoy. A big part of inclusion in this setting was making sure my groups of students were respectful towards each other as well. Before anything else when I met my group, I always set guidelines on how it is important to respect other people’s differences in this setting. The diversity and feeling of inclusion that we strive for at the University of Washington is what makes this school such a powerful one. In the way I acted and created a welcoming environment during orientation, I created an inclusive space for new students to feel like they belonged at this school.
One of the biggest parts of being an Orientation Leader was understanding my student’s different stories and caring for their experiences. About halfway through the summer, I took my group to see the health and wellness presentation which focused on some heavy topics such as sexual assault, suicide and substance abuse. Although I had seen this talk multiple times throughout the summer already, I felt something different this time. I started to get a panic attack and had to remove myself from the space because these topics triggered personal experiences with me. I was able to recover quickly having dealt with anxiety before but it was on my mind for the rest of the day. When the day was over and all of the Orientation Leaders met to debrief the day, I decided to speak up about this experience. Being at Orientation is generally a positive experience for people but the health and wellness conversation could trigger a similar reaction in people that I felt. The only thing different is that these incoming students aren’t in a space they’re familiar with or feel comfortable removing themselves from. This feeling of empathy I felt towards helping my students feel comfortable sparked a big conversation in First Year Programs about what we can do to help make the health and wellness conversation easier on them. So many students come to UW never having taking a health class before or dealt with these conversations in a large group which can make it hard on them. We decided that talking to our students before going into this talk about what we would be covering would prepare them before we went in. Putting my students needs as my number one priority came from a place of empathy and understanding what their perspective might be.
The whole role of being an Orientation Leader was based around facilitating small group discussions that would help guide students to understand their passions and what remained unclear to them. Throughout my two days with my students, I had 8 “group times” with my students where we would talk about different topics such as involvement, values, and academics. I was in charge of starting us off, answering questions and keeping us on track but my real hope was that my students would take charge of the conversation and use each other to deeply discuss a topic. It was always important to ask the right question and have a sense of time management as our schedules ran very tight each day. Our group times ranged from small meeting settings to presentations and it was geared towards having students really start planning their life at UW while having a strong basis of who they are as a person.
This entire experience truly helped me discover myself and have a better understanding of where my values lie. My entire life I have been dedicated to studying marine biology but putting myself in a setting of teaching has opened my eyes to possibly tying education into what I do. Through different interactions with so many students, I enhanced my values of inclusion, equity and compassion. I now sit in a place of wanting to help others and using my experiences to guide others so that they can reach their highest potential. I once doubted my leadership skills, feeling unconfident if I could ever lead a group like this, but now I have grown so much in my abilities to public speak, mentor others and form deep bonds with students from so many different backgrounds. I believe that this experience will help guide me in the future to how I plan to incorporate my values in the work place.
Orientation Group Spreading Love!
It was difficult to find a day at orientation where everything went perfectly smooth. Very often, challenges arose that I, as an Orientation Leader, was responsible for troubleshooting. When I faced challenges, it was important to think of what I could do to solve this problem and how different solutions might have different outcomes. My student’s safety was my biggest priority at work so if we ever faced an unsafe situation, it was important to find the most reasonable way to make sure my students were okay. If ever a student was being disrespectful towards each other it was important to pull them aside one on one to discuss with them that that was unacceptable. During one of my orientation group, I got a student get terribly sick and I was caught between leaving my group to take care of him or stay with my other students. Through communication with other OL’s and rationing different outcomes, I was able to lead my group while making sure that he was okay as well. This position helped me learn the importance of not jumping to conclusions but rather thinking things through and finding the most suitable solution.
Working as an Orientation Leader had many instances of needing to assist others. In this role, I was in charge of helping my students register for classes and get accustomed to what life would be like at UW for them. I saw the value in being able to help my students feel more comfortable about what they were coming to UW for. I worked to create an environment with my groups where my students felt comfortable asking each other for help as well because being a part of the Dawg Pack comes with support for one another. When students came to me with questions it was my priority to help them and make this experience an easy and fun one for them.
Working as an Orientation Leader at UW has helped me discover myself and what my true values are. This position has lead me to be flexible and attentive to new people’s needs as that was a big part of teaching. I see myself working as an educator in the future because of the passion that sparked from this experience. I have gained so much confidence in myself based on my comfortability to lead which has been applied to so many new experiences in the classroom and outside.
