Welcome Home, Again

Welcome Home, Again

North Central dives back into campus life with Welcome Week

By Nathan Droege ’19

Most people ask each other typical questions when they want to hang out: What’s the plan? Where are we headed? Who’s driving?

During the 2020–21 school year at North Central University, Brianna Laboy asked very different questions when she wanted to meet up with friends: “Can I do this? Can I go see her? Are you feeling sick?” Now a third-year student at North Central, Laboy said she felt paranoid about getting quarantined due to exposure to COVID-19 and observed that students felt restricted in their interactions. “I feel like it was a year of navigating limitations and boundaries,” said Laboy.

Her experience wasn’t unique: the NCU campus was far from normal last year. While restrictions and guidelines helped keep residents safe, the side effects made finding community unusually difficult, which made the return to campus in fall 2021 all the more anticipated. Everyone, not just students, felt the need to redeem aspects of the previous year. Gina Zarletti ’05, Assistant Dean of Student Engagement, said her preparation strategy for returning to campus was to “make it as normal as possible.”

Zarletti, who works with student leaders and organizations to plan campus programming, said she encouraged her student leaders to think big as they planned for the new year. “How can we make it awesome?” she asked one leader as they prepared for one of the year’s kickoff events.

YOU BELONG HERE

Each year, Welcome Week begins with the arrival of new students on Super Saturday. On Aug. 21, swarms of returning students and staff greeted lines of cars on 14th Street and Elliot Avenue. Families and volunteer crews filled every corner of campus as students experienced their first day at North Central. Groups of green-shirted student leaders used carts to ferry items up to rooms, continuing the longstanding tradition of welcoming new residents and families with cheers and applause as they entered each residence hall.

Jeremy Williamson ’09, M.A., Associate Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students, encouraged move-in crews to make their welcome for the last person moving in just as loud as for the first person. By late morning on Saturday, shouts were still echoing around campus as leaders greeted new students. “Everybody had a smile on their face … everybody was ready to help out with whatever,” said Corban Entinger, a first-year student.

FUN AND FUNKY

Super Saturday kicks off a brisk schedule that includes training, worship services, and parties on campus, culminating with a recent favorite, the Block Party and the perennial Funky Night.

Zarletti remembers her first Funky Night as a lively evening of camp games and eclectic wardrobes, and she wanted to return the party to its roots. This year, games included relay races and a Twinkie-eating contest, and costumes featured plenty of denim, fanny packs, and togas.

After Funky Night, the New Student Organization (NSO) hosted the Patio Party on the Carlson Hall Patio and upper west parking ramp, offering s’mores, cornhole, and other games. “We got a lot of glowsticks,” said Natasha Burk, a second-year student and NSO team member, commenting on the roughly one thousand glowsticks distributed at the glow-themed event.

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Block Party didn’t happen last year. According to Williamson, a goal for this year’s party was to “push it further and to make it bigger and more fun.”

The Welcome Week team didn’t hold back, inviting staff and faculty and their families to join the students and enjoy popcorn, snow cones, burgers, carnival games, and a performance by the Minneapolis-based band Yam Haus. The event concluded with a big surprise—a fireworks show in the sky above Elliot Park.

“[The Block Party] was definitely one of the highlights of the first couple of weeks at NCU,” said Evan Ackley, a first-year student.

HOME AGAIN

Campus life continued to hum after Welcome Week. Even after classes started and students moved into routines, excitement has been a prevalent emotion throughout campus.

“I think it feels warmer,” said Chris Woelfle ’00, M.A., Carlson Hall Resident Director, commenting on the campus atmosphere. “I think it’s easier and just more natural to strike up conversations with somebody you don’t know or to reconnect with somebody that you do know.”

As the semester has continued, students settled into the campus and city, but the energy didn’t stop.

“I think people are just hungry,” said Laboy, reflecting on the spiritual atmosphere on campus. “I think they are just seeking to experience the Lord in new and fresh ways, and so they come to chapel, they come to PG, they come to Upper Room.”

Welcome Week is a fun, energyfilled experience, but it sets the stage for a deeper, foundational experience for students. By bridging the gap between hometowns and downtown Minneapolis, Welcome Week helps prepare for a great new year at North Central.

“This is home now,” said Ackley.