Sven Alskog

Staff Writer

Size alone can be intimidating for any incoming freshman at Idaho State University. With 14,489 students, ISU has a broad diversity of people, which is where newly-appointed emissaries step in and help make the transition into college life a smooth one.

In previous years, ISU has had a strong focus on its annual orientation program, something that has continued this year. The difference this fall is an emphasis on what is called the “First Year Experience.”

With the selection of each individual emissary last spring, the goal was to bring in students that would be able to form ideas for monthly events and eventually put those ideas into action, along with helping to make new student orientation a success.

To this point, the monthly events have included a tailgate prior to the ISU football game against Dixie State and a leadership boot camp. Throughout the year, the emissaries will focus on one topic each month. The areas of focus will include leadership development, academics, social involvement and service.

“The First Year Experience events are designed to encourage involvement and create connections within the ISU community,” said Student Retention Coordinator Kim Valenta. “There is something for everyone and the events will help first year students to build skills that will increase their academic success.”

In order for the program to be beneficial to the incoming students and reach its goals, all of the coordinators and team members are expected to bring their full energy to each event, something that was evident during the world-record slip-and-slide activity during new student orientation. Those involved in the program believe that when students are out having fun, they are more likely to create connections with their peers.

“These events are incredibly fun and offer some opportunities for freshmen to connect with other freshmen,” said sophomore emissary Andrew Lyman. “They also are a nice escape from school so that they can relax and enjoy themselves.”

Spearheading the efforts to create the monthly events and putting them into action are student coordinators Kellyn Fuller, Kayla Miller, Andres Zamora, Kevin Carpenter and Abraham Chupp.

“The Emissary coordinators are organized, dedicated and have the hearts of servant leaders,” said Valenta.

With the promising number of applicants for the first year of the program, becoming one of the final 32 emissaries was a highly competitive process.

All students who were considered needed to have many skills including being creative, possessing a strong work ethic and having the ability to serve as a role model to all students. Each applicant also needed to have a 2.5 GPA. Valenta and the rest of the directors hope that the end result has been something helpful to all first year students.

One of the best ways to know if something is successful or not is from the feedback received from those that view it from the outside.

“So far, there has been great feedback from ISU’s faculty and staff regarding the program,” said Valenta, “[With the emissaries] in a sense, they were able to serve as a bridge between the new students and the staff presenters [at orientation].”

First year students such as Logan Rector have enjoyed their interactions with various emissary members.

“New student orientation helped me feel comfortable with campus and relaxed before classes started,” said Rector. “It was also a great way to make new friends and make connections with others.”

As is the case with any club or job, the key to success for students is being able to balance their schedules with the activity included. For many emissaries, this includes finding the right mix of school, other jobs and their social lives.

“Fortunately for me, having it all on campus helps a ton,” said student coordinator Kayla Miller. “I can’t say enough about how awesome on-campus jobs are. They are more accepting of a class schedule and are easier to do between classes during the day. All of my jobs also allow me to have fun.”

Miller is also a Resident Assistant at ISU, sticking to a common trend for students within the emissary program of being heavily involved in all aspects of the university. She hopes that the energy that the emissaries will bring to all of their events throughout the year will help the transition for new students.

“The emissaries are around to maximize a student’s first year at ISU,” said Miller. “We are around to answer questions so you reach your academic goals and we are here to inform you about events so you can attend as many on-campus events as possible. We want you to love ISU as much as we do.”

Any new program needs a strong start in order to ensure that it can stick around for a while, something that Valenta, Miller and the rest of the members involved with the emissaries hope will be the case as time goes forward.

“I feel fortunate to work with the caliber of students who are involved in the First Year Experience program,” said Valenta.