Welcome to UPM! So before you can go to class and learn and live the full university life you gotta go through orientation.
I'm sorry it's just what you have to go through.
Now i have to mention, orang kate orientation kat UPM teruk gile. Is it true though? I am a senior but i'm not gonna scare you or trick you or anything. This is all based on my experience, now maybe it's different now, and hey that's great. but this is how it happened in 2013. My college is KTDI.
There are two orientations, orientasi universiti (official) and orientasi kolej (unofficial). Very, very different things and both of them are mandatory.
Orientasi Universiti
This is the real orientation. It's the same no matter what college you're in. KTDI, Serumpun, K5 sume same. It starts a week before lecture class start.
There are strict rules for orientasi universiti, rules for the seniors not for you. For example, they have to let you sleep at 11pm, they have to let you eat at specific times, they can't disturb your sleeping time. The seniors cant bully you because they have to follow strict rules.
In KTDI, i love this orientation. We weren't tired, we get to rest in the evenings and it was all just fun and games. The seniors were very helpful and very friendly.
Activities
- taklimat kolej
- taklimat kat dewan besar
- we play fun games in the evenings
- learn the college cheer
- Daftar kursus
- A day at bukit expo
Orientasi universiti lasts only for a week. And then your lecture classes will start.
And now this is where it's different based on where your college is. If you're in KTDI, K5,K10,K11 and other traditional college you have to go through orientasi kolej.
If you're in Kolej serumpun then at this stage you are now free. Kolej serumpun doesn't have traditions or bondings or whatever shit you can come up with. They only have to go through the official orientation.
Now for the traditional college. I'm sorry but your orientation is not over yet.
Orientasi kolej is all about tradition and bonding and seniors. The rules are not as strict or maybe they don't even exist. Because technically this orientation doesn't exist.
Orientasi Kolej
This is very different from the university orientation. There are no formal rules, no formal activities. Basically this is for your seniors, and it's their way of 'introducing' and 'initiating' you into the college.
I can't really tell you anything about the activities because it is different for every college. But it's all pretty much the same, i mean you have to bond with the seniors, ask them for their signatures and then you gotta do all the activities they throw at you. You know it's the whole initiation thing.
You're gonna be exhausted coz you wont get enough sleep at night and after all that you still have to go to class the next day.
Then the lecturer will ask "Why do you all look so tired?"
And then everyone will answer in unison "Orientation!"
It's kinda funny when i think about it now.
Now that's all i could say. But here's my advice on how to survive this whole college orientation experience.
- Prioritize, your health is important, your safety is more important than anything.
- Don't be rude, no matter how angry or how exhausted you are just stay calm and don't lash out at your seniors or your friends. No one is gonna benefit from that.
- You're an adult, you're allowed to make your own decisions and to say no
- If you can get a doctor's note or a parent's letter to excuse yourself from college activities, go and get it. I'm serious, the seniors themselves will tell you this. This is the solution to all your problems. You get a letter and you'll be excused. The seniors wanna help you, but they just need that letter. So go now, and prepare that letter.
- If you're being bullied please speak up, please.
I'm sorry if i scared you, i didn't mean to do that. i'm just telling you the way it happened, but like i said it might be different now.
It's just orientation, it'll end soon. Back in 2013, in my orientation, it lasted for the whole semester. Because after orientasi kolej, we got orientasi floor, and then a bunch of other activities and events that are specifically for the juniors. So yeah, not really a fun first semester for me.
But hey this is just my opinion, maybe you will like this kinda stuff, it's really not that bad.
Now i'm in my third year studying bachelor in economics, so if you have any questions about this course then feel free to leave a comment. And i'm not in KTDI anymore, me and my friends are now staying in Serumpun. So if you have any questions about Serumpun then ask away.
Again, welcome, welcome welcome to UPM. Orientation is just one part of your university experience, other parts in UPM are just lovely. So don't let orientation ruin your university life. it's just one semester, dont worry, it'll be over before you know it.
Thanks for reading, have a good day everyone :)
