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Nervous about starting at Michigan State? Worried about your class schedule, living away from home, or where to even start? The Spartan Orientation Station (SOS) is a podcast hosted by New Student Orientation staff and was created by students for students. This podcast will launch twice a week throughout the summer, and each episode will feature a unique interview with campus departments discussing their services, common misconceptions, and fun Spartan engagement opportunities. When you need help at Michigan State, it is okay to signal SOS! Don’t worry – MSU is there for you.
You're listening to the Spartan Orientation Station on Impact eighty nine FM, the podcast by students for students. Now, this week's episode.
Karla C.:Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Spartan Orientation Station. My name is Carla. I work for the new student orientation office here as the grad assistant. And today, we're gonna be talking a little bit about the Family and Supporter Program.
Karla C.:And to do that, I'm joined by some of my coworkers. You wanna introduce yourselves?
Tayla S.:Hi. I'm Tayla. I'm one of the student coordinators for Family and Supporters.
Mattis M.:Hello. I'm Mattis. I'm one of the student coordinators on event planning.
Finja M.:Hello. I'm Finja. I'm a student coordinator on the Family and Supporter programming.
Jake B.:Hello. I'm Jake Brody. I'm also student coordinator on event planning.
Tayla S.:Hey. So we're gonna get into our first question. What can family and supporters do before move in to help their student prepare?
Mattis M.:I think one of the most important things that a family and supporter can do before their student moves in is to have open communication and make sure you establish healthy boundaries between you and your student since this will most likely be their first time on their own and with a lot of responsibility, especially in their first year in college. Another important thing is to be taught practical skills. Let your students practice handling their own finances, managing important schedules, cooking on their own laundry, things like that, etcetera. This can be really helpful to kinda get them in a smooth transition into college and have them doing things that they might not been doing on their own. Again, the best thing you can do with student is to be there and support them through the entire process and make sure that they know that they have support even though you might not be physically there.
Mattis M.:For example, my mom and I had a schedule to call minimum once a week. Oftentimes, this happened more than once a week, and this helped me a ton because I always knew that I had someone to talk to and someone that would support me no matter what, and also just listen if that's what I needed. It was also important for my family and supporters, specifically my mom because it was the first time that she had an empty house in her life, and I wanted to make sure that she also felt comfortable with the transition.
Tayla S.:Thank you so much for that response. It was very insightful.
Jake B.:Thank you, Madis.
Tayla S.:Do you have anything to add, Jake Brody?
Jake B.:Yeah. Sure. I I would just reiterate that keeping open channels of communication between family and supporters and the student is always a plus. Setting up a schedule to communicate with one another, that always ensures a healthy relationship where the student remains independent, but the family supporters can give them resources and support.
Finja M.:Alright. Thank you, Jake. I definitely agree that it's important to stay present in your student's life even but also giving them that independence at the same time. So moving on to the next question. Mattis, what does the move in process look like?
Mattis M.:So I know everyone's eagerly awaiting their housing placement right now, but once that occurs, throughout the summer, you'll receive a time slot for when you can move in. Depending on what dorm you're in, when this happens, you'll simply be able to drive right outside your dorm during your time slot and start moving into your dorm. There are very helpful employees that are clearly outlined in normally green shirts and also moving carts that you can put all your stuff in and make it easier to move in. One really helpful tip that I have from my experience of moving in is to really have a conversation with your roommate before you move and have separate move in times. If you're especially if you're living in a double room because it can get super stressful and hectic if two people are moving into the same room at the same time, especially when there's not that much space in the dorms.
Mattis M.:After moving, I would recommend moving your car, exploring the wonderful stuff East Lansing to offer, the surrounding areas, restaurants, throughout campus, and also be mindful that other people are also trying to move their students in and not to have it too crowded. So I would recommend just going around, exploring. You can even go Downtown Lansing to the capital, and there's just a ton of wonderful stuff that you can do before your journey home and before your student starts their journey at MSU.
Finja M.:Yeah. Thank you for that. I agree that exploring campus, exploring the city is, like, a very good thing to do when you first move here.
Jake B.:I'd like to add that family support should make sure that their students go into the dorms, into the front desk to check-in so they can get the room key and get settled that way and then ensure the proper, like, move in procedure as well.
Mattis M.:And make sure that you always have an eye on your keys because I had a couple experiences where I'd lose my keys, and unfortunately, you do have to pay for those to be replaced.
Tayla S.:Thank you for those responses. I honestly, I had that same issue where I lost my key, and I did pay for it during the move out process. So I was just curious. What would you say surprises students the most during the first month of the academic school year?
Mattis M.:Yeah. I'd say for me, the biggest surprise I had was really the amount of free time that I had during the week. I know a lot of these students might be coming out of high school where you have a strict schedule every single day and you have to go from class to class. But once you're in college, you make your own schedule and you can really have classes that are five hours apart and in completely different buildings. So you have a lot of free time there.
Mattis M.:The biggest advice I would do to kind of combat all this free time that I had because sometimes I would just sit around and really feel like I wasn't doing anything, and I wanted to get out there and do something. I would say join a club and I am sport. Are so many people on this campus and so many people that have similar interests. You'll 100% be able to find, you know, someone out that that that is interested in the same thing.
Finja M.:Alright. Thank you both for your answers. We're gonna move on to the next question, which is how can families and supporters encourage independence while still being involved?
Jake B.:For sure. I would reiterate what Matt has said earlier and say that family supporters should check-in via calls and texts every couple days, maybe every day, depending on how things are set up between the student and the family supporters, and ultimately what the student wants. I'll definitely set clear boundaries between the two parties as well to ensure a good relationship, and then the family support should obviously help student whenever they ask for it and support positive decision making that the student makes. I would hope that the family and supporters would try to instill proper time management skills and scheduling skills for the student because those are probably two of the most important things for new college students to really nail down. And I would ask family supporters to be a role model, try to instill stuff that will be useful for the new students on campus and just don't overstep.
Jake B.:Let them try to figure stuff out themselves. And if they need help, definitely reach out and talk about it.
Mattis M.:Yeah. I'd say also sitting down with your student, making goals is also really important. That way you can kind of figure out your student's journey. And also just to and you want to make sure that you also know that this is your student's own journey. You might have had your own journey when you were in college or university, but making sure that, you know, you're encouraging your student to do what they want on their journey through college and things that interest them.
Tayla S.:Wow. That was very insightful. I totally understand. I had to tell my parents when I was gonna, you know, be back home every day. And then once I came to college, I was like, guys, I'm gonna do my own thing.
Tayla S.:So I'm just curious. What campus resources are available if students struggle during the transition?
Jake B.:Of course. First, have counseling and psychiatric services, which helps new students if they need to talk about things in their life. It could definitely be helpful for a new transition. They're kind of a fish out of water, you know, they're going into a new environment, so some students might need some assistance. That's a very good resources.
Jake B.:The acronym for that is CAPS. There's also college advising. If a student has questions about any classes they're taking or enrolled in, advising can help them through that and definitely reduce stress. I'd also suggest Student Health and Wellness Center, the Student Rec Center, some peer support mentoring programs, neighborhood events to meet people. Those also help make people feel like they belong and helps them fit in.
Jake B.:And then of course joining RSOs is one of the best ways to get involved in campus. Mattis, anything else?
Mattis M.:Yeah, of course. You know, as New Student Orientation, we also host plenty of events in the fall for these incoming students. A lot of these events will have plenty of campus resources. We'll be out there tabling, telling you about them, giving you free merch, stuff like that. And also, think it's really important to reiterate that don't be scared to reach out.
Mattis M.:I know asking for help can be difficult sometimes, but really all these resources here at Michigan State are really, really helpful. And their whole job and what they do and what they care about is the students. So really don't be afraid to reach out. All these people are here to help, and transitioning into college is really a struggle, especially the first semester.
Finja M.:Yeah. Thank you, guys. Thanks, Jake, for listening off some resources. MSU has so many resources available, so it's definitely important to utilize those. So our last question is going to be, what advice would you give family and supporters heading into move in week?
Jake B.:Yeah. I would definitely check out the family and supporter resource fair happening during welcome week. That should be August 25, I believe, which is a Tuesday. It's located in the Breslin Center and Monai Serena, although Moneye Serena is more relaxation station. But the Breslin Center will have a ton of resources for family and supporters who often are empty nesting for the first time, and family and supporters will be able to talk to students and feel more comfortable with their transition, as well as get a ton of resources, some we've already talked about today.
Mattis M.:Yeah. I'd also say just stay involved on campus as well if you're interested and if you're comfortable doing that. Things like football season, tailgates, of course, there's a ton of family and supporters there. There's family weekend as well. So just making sure that you also stay involved with your student because for me personally, some of the most exciting times and when my parents would come up and visit us and get engaged in the same stuff that I was MSU.
Mattis M.:So again, I just say, you know, also you can be involved in MSU. Your student doesn't have to be the only one in your family that
Tayla S.:I totally understand what you mean. My parents never went to, like, crazy universities, so they have a lot of Michigan State pride. And I think that the families can also have that as well. And I'd encourage anyone to go to the tailgate and just be a part of the campus life here. Even if you are family or supporter, you definitely have a place somewhere at MSU as well.
Tayla S.:Thank you guys so much for your comments. We really appreciate it. And that's gonna be the end of our podcast. We hope that you guys look at our Instagram and stay updated so that we can keep planning these events for you because we really enjoy doing it. Thanks so much.
Mattis M.:Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
Narrator:Thank you for listening to this episode of the Spartan Orientation Station on Impact eighty nine FM. Let us know what you think by connecting with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at MSU underscore NSO.