By Raffaela Kenny-Cincotta, News Staff
At the beginning of this semester, the midway point for many Northeastern students, a new group of undergraduates moved onto campus for the first time.
N.U.in students, who spent the first semester studying abroad as freshmen, began classes on the main campus last week.
Though some in past years described challenges with the process of starting school in January, some N.U.in students this year said the university made them feel welcome in their first days on campus.
Angie Huang, a health sciences major, and Kaitlyn Korich, a finance major, are both N.U.in freshmen who became good friends while spending the fall semester in Australia.
Thinking back on her first week in Boston, Huang said, “I felt really comforted and welcomed by the people in my hall.”
The only notable challenge, the California native said, is the New England winter.
“The weather is new to me, but I’m getting used to it,” she said.
Last year, Student Government Association member Nicole Daly, an N.U.in alumna, helped found NU Starts, a program to help integrate students who begin school in January into the Northeastern community.
“N.U.in is a great experience, it really helps to broaden your horizons from the start,” Daly, a middler psychology and education major who spent the fall of 2010 in London, said.
She said there are a number of opportunities that are presented to freshmen who participate in the program.
“It was a really great opportunity to see what it was like to live in another culture, and not just see another culture,” Daly said.
She also described the variety of living arrangements available to N.U.in students staying in different locations.
Those who choose to go to Australia go to class at the Swinburne University of Technology and stay in a dorm, while those studying in Costa Rica stay in the homes of local families, she said.
After having such a vast array of experiences, Daly said, once N.U.in students return to Boston and some people may have difficulty adjusting to the American college lifestyle.
This year, Daly said the Northeastern administration has continued to improve the experience for N.U.in students.
“I think that a lot of the departments on campus, Residential Life being first and foremost, have really made some strides to make the experience better,” she said.
Lisa Commendatore, Northeastern’s director of orientation, parent and admission programs, said the feeling among returning N.U.in students is typically one of nervous excitement.
“When we see them in January they are so excited to be here and because they’ve had this shared experience with other students they are so engaged with one another … our job is now to acclimate them to campus and to Boston,” she said.
Korich recounted feeling “nervous at first,” but once she adjusted to her surroundings, “it was a lot easier.”
She said that joining clubs associated with her major was a great way for her and other N.U.in students to meet friends with similar interests.
Both students had high praise for the January Welcome Week and Orientation orchestrated by the university, citing the program as one of the first opportunities they had to make lasting friendships on campus.
