The arrival of the Class of 2020 kicks off New Student Orientation (NSO) to welcome the incoming first years to campus.

Ryan Pu, a Trinity sophomore and member of this year’s orientation team, explains his excitement for the arrival of the new class of 2020.

“We’ve been talking a lot about the importance of the first week of school, and helping them learn to be comfortable enough to make friends, and that’s something I’m really excited to do,” Pu said.

While reminiscing on his own welcome week, Pu described his highlights from the previous year.

“Last year, my favorite event was the mixer we had, and that was when all of the first years and all of the O-Team got together and we played music and danced and basically had a big mingle session. That was my favorite just because that was where I met the most people,” Pu said.

This year, Pu most looks forward to helping put on Play Fair.

“I’m most excited for Play Fair because that’s another big time where people come together and do things they’ve never done before with their new freshman class,” Pu said.

Pu said that working with NSO has helped him become more connected to students from all walks of life.

“Mostly I wanted to give back to the O-Team that really helped me last year, and I heard it was a really fun experience and thing to be a part of,” Pu said. “I love the people that I work with. Everyone is so nice, and everyone is a leader. On O-Team, we all really have to work together, everyone wants to lead, everyone wants to work, everyone wants to be there. It’s also just a really open and accepting group.”

Tiana Sanchez, a first year who moved in early, described her first impression upon arrival.

“All of the professors have been really nice, and they really help you to get to know the school,” Sanchez said. This school felt huge, since I’m used to a small town, but it’s really pretty here and the people are really nice, so it was easy to get comfortable here.”

Sanchez continued to say that she’s excited for everyone to be back on campus.

“I’m looking forward to having people on campus that haven’t been here before. I’ve kind of gotten used to my little bubble already, and so I’m excited to meet more nice people,” Sanchez said.

Pu described his expectations for the mindset the new students should get into  for their first week at Trinity.

“I think they should be open to anything. College only happens once, you know, and I think they should have that mindset of knowing it only happens once and they don’t want to miss the chance to do something they may find really fun,” Pu said. “It can be really rewarding to step out of your comfort zone and just be able to say, you know, “˜I did that.'”

Kara McLean, a Trinity sophomore, discussed her thoughts on how Trinity handles its incoming classes.

“I think it’s great all that Trinity does for its first years. I really love my home in El Paso, so when I came to campus it really helped to know there were tons of people there to help make me feel more welcome,” McLean said.

McLean recalled the high energy aspect of being a part of NSO.

“My most memorable NSO memory was definitely Playfair. It’s a really huge event, and it’s very high energy, and I met so many people that night. It’s kinda weird, but also kind of nice that you look around afterward and, you probably don’t even remember most of their names, but there’s pretty much all of the freshman class with one common experience with you,” McLean said.