On February 20, though it was winter vacation, about 60 buses were parked on the main avenue in the University of Seoul. At that time there were freshmen in the Main Auditorium preparing for orientation. For many freshmen, who had just ten days to enter the university, greeting unfamiliar faces who would be fellows of their university life in an awkward atmosphere took precedence over studying their major or TOEIC.

After checking the number of participants, the buses hurried on to the DaeMyung Resort where the orientation was held for three days. Orientation had been hosted by the Student Union every February. Lee Keum-jun, a sophomore of the Dept. of Economics, said "The purpose of orientation is to help freshmen to adjust to university life and to make links among freshmen and seniors."

About 1,650 freshmen and 700 seniors participated in this orientation and about 71 volunteers were mobilized for the events. On the first night, freshmen heard a lecture about leadership from Yoon Jong-lak, the Human Resource Development Head of Operation of the Hyundai Research Institute. There was a performance held by the Club Union after the lecture. All nine clubs had various styles of performance: Eolssigu played folk music, HanSoRae sang popular songs, PRISM performed magic, TRU-HZ sang African-American music, RAH showcased various genres of dance and so on.

"All clubs prepared for the performance during winter vacation for about two months, even though they were on stage for only ten minutes." said Kang Su-hui, a junior of the Dept. of Computer Science and chairman of the Club Union. Lee Dong-won, a freshman of the Dept. of Business Administration, said "It was good to experience lots of clubs performing and I was really impressed. I felt the passion of the seniors for their clubs."

On the second day, each department had its own time to get to know each other while doing team-building exercises. "Some games were a little uninteresting, but we became close over a short period. We even made each friend뭩 nick name and got to know seniors better." said Seo Ji-yeon, a freshman of the Dept. of Korean Language and Literature. "I think it is the best way to meet freshmen and give them useful information for the start of university life." said Kim Byeong-soo, a sophomore of the Dept. of Economics.

Orientation is held every year but the Student Union tries to give it various themes each year. Freshmen have a feeling of expectancy that orientation is a chance to get university life under way and they are full of enthusiasm. All students have salad days but they forget those days over time. Now might be a good time to regain some of the passion of orientation.
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