- What's up guys, welcome back to the vlog.
Today, I'm gonna take you for a day in the life
to show you what the Rollins
first-year experience looks like.
From making friends to meeting your professors and mentors
to exploring this beautiful campus,
I'm gonna show you what the first-year experience here
at Rollins is all about.
You guys have a lot of questions
about what your first-year experience might look like
here at Rollins.
Any more,
feel free to drop them in the comments below,
and I might make a video about it.
All right, guys.
So first things first, I'm gonna be heading
to Dr. Tatari's Designing Your Life class.
It's a first year RCC, and I'm gonna go meet up
with my friends, Keegan and Christian
who are peer mentors for that course.
So I'm just pulling up now.
They're still in class, but check this out,
it's super cool.
Right on the beach.
And they got the lake view.
Probably the coolest classroom on campus.
All right, guys.
So these are my friends, Keegan and Christian.
They're peer mentors for this awesome class.
Tell me guys,
why did you want to be peer mentors in the first place?
- I was going through an emotional struggle and
I had an amazing peer mentor that helped me through that.
And I don't think I would be the person I am today
if it wasn't for her help.
And I knew at that point, I want to do the same thing.
- I actually had a similar experience
helping one of my mentees
and kind of setting her on the right path.
So, when she came to Rollins,
she was kind of struggling to find herself
and so she took an LGBTQ+ RCC.
I worked with her throughout the semester
and by the end of the semester, she actually came out
to me and I was able to kind of point her
towards the right resources on campus
and find her place at Rollins.
- Thanks so much guys
for telling me all about the peer mentor life.
I'll see you guys around campus.
All right, guys, so we're right in the middle of campus here
at Mills Lawn.
Everything's super close by.
You got Lakeside Neighborhood right over there.
The museum's just down the road.
Annie Russell Theater, sports field, and of course,
the Olin Library.
Hey, Jess, I'm filming a first year vlog,
do you have any tips for first year students?
- Oh actually, yeah.
Being a first year student,
I think that it's really important to have
your mental health in check the whole time.
I know that the wellness center has a bunch
of great resources that you can use
but everybody's got to find their own thing.
So, mine is yoga, just on the way to go do some.
- Awesome, have fun. - Thanks.
- See ya later.
Yo Papaa as a fellow RA,
what's a great piece of advice you'd give
to first year students?
- Man, definitely get involved as early as you can.
I got involved with BSU my first year
and it has been the best part of my Rollins experience.
- That's awesome, thanks bro. - Yeah, no problem.
- Have a good one.
What's up Bobby, how you doin bro?
- Hey, how you doing Curtis?
- This is my friend, Bobby, one of my amazing residents
in Ward Hall.
Dude, you've been so involved.
You're the president of the Hall Council,
you're always in KWR.
How'd you get involved so much at Rollins?
- You know what, honestly, I'm gonna have
to credit to Rollins.
They made it, for our first-year experience,
they've really made it easy to assimilate
into the Rollins community.
Having the help from the RAs is such a tremendous help.
And not to mention, you guys help us get involved
with whatever passion we have on campus.
- Being an RA, I really took my first-year experience
and everything I've learned,
I just want to give it back to you guys.
And I think that's the best part
is seeing you guys find opportunities,
connecting you to departments on campus,
all the clubs and sports and everything there is to offer,
to seeing you guys like explore
and see everything there is, that just makes me so happy.
- No honestly, and you guys have done a fantastic job
and not just the RAs, but even like our peer mentors.
They always help us with whatever we need.
Even if it's academic.
Sometimes if it's life stuff, you know,
it really is a community of mentors,
which sets Rollins apart from the rest.
I feel like Rollins has definitely made it super easy
to make that transition from high school to college.
And coming to college, you have this mixture of emotions.
You don't know exactly what to expect or what to do.
And one of the great things is at Rollins,
you don't have to declare your major.
You know, you have two years to figure out exactly
what is a major and what major do you want?
- They have the Rfla program that's designed to push you out
of your boundaries and take classes
you might not know you're even interested in.
And I think that's one of the best parts
about exploring your major here at Rollins.
- You know, at a big school,
typically the standard is like, oh, you go to your class,
you do your major, you get your degree.
At Rollins, it's you go to class,
you learn something valuable
and then you go and figure out
what your passion is outside of the classroom.
And then you get your degree.
- What else are you involved in on campus?
- Oh yeah, so actually I got a job here at KWR.
I work with the Social Impact Hub
and pretty much what we do is we offer resources
to students to create whatever social justice project
that they want to create.
And then, you know, we do a lot of stuff
a lot of the stuff in the community.
- Bobby, it's been great talking to you, man.
Thanks for sitting down and having a chat.
If you ever need anything, don't forget to reach out.
I always got you.
- For sure, see you around, Curtis.
- Have a good one, bro.
Hey. Taryn. How are you?
- Hi, Curtis. How are you?
- I'm great, I'm great.
So you're obviously so involved,
especially as a first year student.
How'd you find your place so quickly here at Rollins?
- Rollins really helped me find my anchor.
Through the Bonner program
and classes I've taken at Rollins,
I was able to get a job at Fleet Farming
as a video editing intern.
- Wow, that's awesome.
- I wouldn't have been able to get that experience
if it wasn't for my connection at Rollins.
- That's great, I'm so happy for you.
Good luck with everything.
- Thanks, Curtis. Bye. - See ya.
Yo, what's up, Jonah?
Say hi to the vlog. - Hey, everybody.
- Guys, this is my amazing resident, Jonah in Ward Hall.
Tell me what was your favorite memory
from your first semester here at Rollins?
- It was definitely that ping pong tournament
we had in Ward.
You know, it helped me meet a bunch of new people
in the building and get connected with them,
make new experiences and stuff.
- Awesome, thanks dude.
Have a good one, I'll see you around.
Hey Lucy, how are you?
- Hi, I'm good, how are you?
- I'm great, I'm great.
So I know you're a first year,
you're on the basketball team, you're in Strong as well.
How's your first-year experience been here at Rollins?
- It's been really fun so far.
My RA has been really helpful
in getting us all involved in our little Strong community.
So it's been fun and made the transition really easy.
- Awesome, thanks. - Mhmm.
- Have a good one, I'll see you later.
- You too.
- As you can tell, Rollins offers
a uniquely inviting campus community
to make sure your transition
to college is as smooth as possible.
Now that I'm an RA in a first-year hall,
I get to continue the Rollins tradition
to make sure everyone's first year is as great as mine.
Don't forget to leave some ideas
for the next video in the comments below
and I'll see you in the next one, peace!