Making the transition to college life isn't easy. New people and places surround you, the food is nothing to brag about, your room is the size of a matchbox, and you haven't quite found your niche yet. At orientation, most of the other freshmen share your concerns, but you also notice a group of confident students who have already become friends. Thanks to an earlier orientation program, those kids had a jump on adjusting to college life.
Freshman Orientation CommUnity Service program (FOCUS) introduces incoming freshman to Boston and Tufts through various community service projects. Since its inception into the Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS) five years ago, FOCUS has grown from offering only three volunteer opportunities to offering over 11 different service trips on issues such as homelessness, hunger, education, and the environment.
FOCUS takes place the week preceding general freshman orientation and requires a great deal of preparation and coordination. Planning begins this month, and applications for group leaders and support staff members are due Feb 21. Incoming freshmen receive FOCUS applications around May 1, the deadline for accepted students to commit to enroll. The program charges a $200 fee that includes food, transportation, and a donation to the participating churches on behalf of FOCUS.
As the summer progresses, the incoming freshman who have been accepted to FOCUS are divided into groups of ten or 12. Lodging arrangements are made at Boston-area churches, and 40 to 45 volunteer opportunities must be found and confirmed.
"It gets hectic in July and by August. It's a full-time job," senior Talia Cohen said. "I had a summer job and things got so busy with FOCUS that I had to quit."
As FOCUS has grown over the years, the admissions office has played less of a role in running the program. "Aside from getting the names of the incoming freshman from the admissions office, the administration doesn't have an active role. Because FOCUS is an LCS program, it is entirely student-run," Cohen said. FOCUS' faculty advisor, Student Employment Manager Joanne Grande meets with deans about FOCUS, but primarily works as a liaison between students and administration.
Once arrangements are made, groups are assigned a project or a volunteer location during the FOCUS week. For example, groups given projects dealing with homelessness may work at soup kitchens, local shelters, or day-care centers for homeless children. Other projects involve restoring, building, and painting low-income housing and cleaning local areas. Through volunteering, participants not only tour various facilities, but also meet other volunteers and those receiving help.
Twenty-two upperclassmen lead FOCUS. This year's coordinators are Lydia Sullivan, Veenita Kaushik, and Viola Manteufel. Cohen estimated that approximately 90 percent of FOCUS freshmen return as staff.
"I did FOCUS when I was a freshman and I loved it. I was one of the coordinators last year," she said.
After four days of hard work, the freshmen are treated to a trip into Boston to get acquainted to the city they will call home for the next few years.
"We want [the freshmen] to get to know their way around Boston, around campus, and value their time at college - to meet other people and have fun. We also want them to get interested in doing community service and maybe coming back to help out as staff," Sullivan said.
