FOCUS

Brett Hartmann is a Junior from St. Louis, MO. See what he has to say about his FOCUS orientation experience:

FOCUS was a great way to get ready for my freshman year, and college life in general. I was worried about being in a foreign place without any friends, but quickly made some new ones. That made the transition in the fall much easier because there were already some friendly faces around campus. I got the chance to get used to where my classes would be, so I didn’t feel completely lost on the first day of school. While some of the ice-breakers and games we played felt kind of silly, my Orientation Assistant, Brent, did a great job leading our group and making us all feel comfortable with each other. I also had the chance to meet with an academic advisor so my class schedule was taken care of well in advance. It was fun to stay in the residence halls with other future freshmen. I knew a lot of people who meshed so well with the person they roomed with that they even decided to room together in the fall. One of my favorite memories was a late night run to 7-11 for slurpees- something that may seem small, but helped me to feel like Valpo was home. Overall, I think that the biggest benefit FOCUS offered me was getting ready for the fall and the transition into the new life that Valpo would offer.

-Brett Hartmann, Theology ‘10