Orientation Activities for New Graduate Students in 2014, MCU Watsrisudaram, Bangkok

Regrouping of class 2012 and class 2013 graduate students to hold a greeting and orientation activities for building up a good relationship between seniors and juniors in order to lead them to proudly successfulness in long-term study in M.A. in English. 

 Generally speaking, orientation activities are very essential to all the new graduate students in terms of building love, harmony, determination, tolerance, and desire of the success. All these things are the educational keys to hold onto for encouraging them to the wonderful finish line in the near future as Beboy Manyou said  "One who has well-educated is like a man who standing on the mountain high, when he is on the top of mountain, he can view everything beneath."

Of course, when they come to study in the higher education, there is nothing easy for them. Everything in higher education system is very complicated. It's like you go to a different-culture country which looks much different from your hometown. I think you know how hard it is when you have to stay there where is new for you. So the important thing you should do first is to adapt oneself for self-benefits in long-term living in regard to life-spending, well-being, social interaction, social participation, and so on. Entering to the gate of a university is the same as you go to a non-native country. 

 What have we done for our new junior graduate students on orientation day (M.A. in English)? 

As universally know that being a good senior graduate student is not easy to behave because one who is a good senior must have a lot of particular abilities of English skills, being a good example, having a good human interaction, boosting an enthusiasm for a good study result, being reliable person, etc. From a point of view on being a senior graduation student, I think it is not different from being a good brother.  

 A lot of good things we have done on that orientation day were:

1. we have invited the head of department of foreign languages and all English professional teachers to give an inspirational speech to all the new graduate students in the classroom 341 on the 4th floor of classroom building, MCU Wat srisudam, Bangkok.

2. After finishing listening to all English professional teachers' speeches, we took them to officially orientation activities, starting from MA course guidance, giving a personal education tips to all the new graduate students by five representatives of class 2012-2013 students who're seniors of MA inter-program.

 3. Opening up the golden opportunity by allowing some of new graduate students to greet and speak to everyone in the classroom 341 where we held orientation activities. Speaking points mostly focused on self-introduction, revealing the self-perspectives on why did you come to study MA program in MCU, self-inspiration, giving self-opinion on English learning, personal education tips in learning English, sharing some experiences from previous study, and so on. 

 4. water-drinking time--- there were more than 40 new graduate students of humanities faculty, MCU who attended the orientation activities. Definitely, we provided some cold healthy drinks in advance to serve them after a 3 hour orientation activities.

5. Re-turning to the classroom 341 for the last orientation activity before heading back to their temples / homes: the last orientation activity was freely friendly group participation between seniors and juniors in order to exchange the view and attitude on MA in English program.

FIVE significant things I've experienced when I first came to M.A. English program in 2012:

1.     1.  FRIENDS----friends are so important to you as Elbert Hubbard ( he was An American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher) said “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”   

   The Buddha said: A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure (tre- ger).

           2.       SENIOR STUDENTS------Senior students are so important to your class learning performance as MA study in terms of guiding the good ways of everything that relates to field of study. 

3.      Friendly teacher--- it can talk everything to him freely when you have a problem about your study, referring to Marva Collins (She was an American educator), she said  “The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior. When our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed.”

    4. READINESS OF CLASSROOM – Microphone, Computer for assignment presentation, cleanness of classroom, etc. These are able to negatively impact to the students. It would be well prepared in advance.

5   5. PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE CLASS IN ADVANCE- Review what you learn from the class, you should prepare questions to ask teacher in the class beforehand, class participation, taking responsibility of what the teachers order you to do especially class-assignments, homework, group-work presentation, single work presentation, etc.    A great quote from Joe Gibbs  ( He is a former American football coach) said “A winning effort begins with preparation”. 

                  

   Written by Beboy Manyou

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