<p>so exactly how crucial is OA for meeting new people and starting off life at pton?</p>
<p>[my volleyball team’s going to this huuuge tournament and this year it happens to be in DC, my hometown, which is like once every 6 years. basically its alotta fun and a huge deal and i really dont wanna miss it]</p>
<p>but it also happens to be the exact same weekend that OA starts…
so i’m wondering how important OA is, esp. if i’m kinda shy and not that outgoing when meeting new people.</p>
<p>do you make good friends that you stay close with all year or longer?
or is it just acquaintances that you just say hi to around campus but dont hang out with much?</p>
<p>i wanna get off to a good start but alsooo im thinking its just groups of 10ish people so im not missing out on that much…and 50% dont go also</p>
<p>i hafta decide by july 31 to get my money back haha
so anyyy input from former/current/incoming students would help muchly:)
TIA!! [ha i just found out what that means]</p>
<p>I’m doing OA this year, but I don’t think it’s imperative to attend. It’s just a fun way of meeting some people, but you’ll meet lots of people anyways once you get on campus. If you’re shy and not too outgoing, I still don’t think it’ll be a problem becaus you’ll have roommates and classmates and hallwaymates, and a whole lot of other people that you’ll just meet randomly. If it were me, I would def. go to the volleyball tourney.</p>
<p>It makes a significant difference during your first month or so, when all the OA/CA students are hanging out together. After that, people tend to bond with their RA groups or people in their extracurricular activities. Not doing OA might make you a little less comfortable at first, but it shouldn’t have any major long-term impact.</p>
<p>some people who go on OA (or CA) will meet people they will become good friends with for the rest of their time at pton. others will have fun and bond on the trip but will quickly drift apart from their fellow OA’ers within weeks of getting to campus. either way, it certainly can’t hurt. it’s not like you won’t meet plenty of new faces during the first week of school, though it can make you a bit more comfortable coming in. more or less, it’s just a great experience to have. i don’t think that backpacking is my sorta thing… i mean, i’m really not a huge fan of not showering for a week and getting eaten up by mosquitoes, but i still feel it was a really fun experience to have once.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that around 50% choose to do OA/CA (I think). That means that the other 50% will just meet everyone when school starts. I’m not doing OA, and even if all the OA already know each other when school starts, I’ll just hang out with some other non-OAers. Anyway, I already know a bunch of people from CC, so I feel like I’m on pretty even footing with the OAers :)</p>
<p>i didn;t do oa, it turned out fine. Very few of my friends stayed friends with their oa/ca group, and during the first week or so youre meeting tons of new people anyway, and generally going to meals with your roommates or ra group, so its not like you need people to eat lunch with. If you’re in a suite it can be useful because you can basically choose your room and furniture (although technically you’re not supposed to until a meeting with your ra, the first day of school people don’t really want to fight about it… unless you choose a single where the rest of the suite is doubles or something, in which case you will likely have to switch off anyway)</p>