Orientation Days = Not Very Orienting?

October 2015. So recently (okay, not very recent), our Ministry of Education released a law stating that orientation at universities must be led by lecturers, not students. A cup of hot chocolate accompanied me that day at my Master’s campus in Yogyakarta, when I overheard the news from a nearby television. I quickly grabbed my cell and Googled the news for confirmation. It was true!

You’re probably wondering why this news brought about such happiness to me, considering the fact that my university freshman days are way behind me? Truth it, those days passed by physically, but not mentally. But let me start from the beginning.

February 2007. I cant remember the date exactly, but I received a phone call from my first choice of university in Jakarta (whose name I have decided to omit, but those who know, oh well), informing me that I have aced their entrance requirements and that I was officially in, if I wanted to proceed with the application. I was ECSTATIC! Of course, studying abroad was my dream but being daddy’s little girl, he couldn’t get acquainted with the idea of sending me away. Either way, I got to go to my choice of local campus, so all’s well that ends well. I went ahead with the application, received my info pack a couple of days later and that I was in. I was officially a freshman, along with some peers from high school.  

Excitement, excitement! I was counting for my orientation days. I couldn’t wait to meet my classmates, my lecturers, get a hold of my books, new stationeries (I’m a sucker for good writing tools) and ditch my school uniform! I wish I wasn’t as excited as I was then, because the days to come, were a bunch of nightmares.

August 2007. Pre-orientation day came upon us. The orientation crew consisted of senior students, comprising of class mentors, disciplinary team and other supporting divisions. My own class mentors were lovely. The crew developed a pretty strict chain of events for orientation, along with a equally stringent dress code. There were so many do-it-yourself items to carry; a signboard to be hung down our necks the whole time, a made-from-scratch notebook for assignments, hand-drawn university logo and so on. On top of that, we received a crap load of assignments, had to join an out-of-town excursion and so on. I didn’t mind them. At first.

A bunch of us reached the campus together on our first orientation day. We were late as there was a no-personal-car policy during orientation (parking around campus was a bummer). Joining an initial checking line, some of us had our name tags taken for “punishment” and had to write our lateness issue on our signboards. My first impression was that they were a team of tough seniors. We weren’t greeted well, treated like children, had our bags opened for content check and were instructed like robots. The day proceeded fine. Several info sessions were wonderful, which involved several lecturers and other academic representatives. But I distinctly remember, our assignments were left unchecked, despite of the constant reminders for completion. The whole day’s event took place up to late in the evening, with a bunch of more assignments to be handed the next morning. On top of that, those who had faults on their signboards were asked to stay back. We were made to assemble in the front lobby and we were HUMILIATED to death. We were screamed at. We were laughed at. Some ass**** caught me shivering (yes, that’s how bad it was) and he and his friend sniggered behind my back. Whatever. I don’t remember what the screaming was about. Something about being responsible, being prepared for more tasks to follow.

Day 2. No lateness this time. But my name tag was initially taken for wearing a dark blue belt (the note wanted black but this was the closest I had). They let me go upon seeing my scared-as-hell face and my explanation that after the previous day’s late event, how was I supposed to go out and get a new belt? Of course, I got the typical “how do you not have a black belt? That is so weird” a million times. Yes, because my fashion choice is to be determined by my college seniors. Do you want to pick out my wedding dress too? Anyway, I got to keep my name tag, which meant no senior screaming down my neck. Our assignments received a small note this time. At least they were read. Later during the day, we learnt more details about our excursion, which was a one-night stay somewhere away from Jakarta. Sounds fun? Think again.

Excursion. We gathered real early to make our way to the outbound location. I felt relieved to be off-campus. The change felt good. Upon reaching, we found out that we were to sleep in barracks. Wooden huts with one small light bulb. No pillows, no blankets. I didn’t mind as I’m adaptable and honestly, rather adventurous. The weather grew cold towards the evening and the only thing that would keep us warm was our orange overalls, which we were told to wear 24/7. Mine got dirty and smelly within the first hour due to the muddy games but no one was allowed to exchange them for a new set. Our phones were taken without notice on how long until we get them back. Bathrooms were dirty. No plumbing. No lights. I would have used my phone for lighting, BUT IT WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM ME. Still, I didn’t complain. It was just one night.

But then, the worst happened. Night time. We were all asked to sleep by 10 pm with warning; we must keep our shoes on at night, along with our overalls and helmet. Sleep with our shoes on? Something funny I expected for sure and I was spot on. I left out my shoes, as they were wet. At around 2 am, an array of firecrackers were shot, along with what sounded like a police alarm. We were woken up by force and rushed to the main outdoor area. Upon reaching, we were asked to lay flat, head down on the floor like slaves. An ant nest was right under my chin and I put my face up to locate elsewhere. A huge hand touched my head and forced it down. No explanations were allowed to be given. An ant nest was on my face.

We were then broken into groups and tasked. The worst task of the day. We were to enter the forest individually and follow a designed trail to reach the other end of the forest. We weren’t allowed torchlights. So literally, the only thing guiding our path was the rope for trail. A slip up and we would have been lost in the woods without light. Granted, they had people in every post in the forest so the chances of being lost were small but we were frightened to death. My turn came and I decided to ignore my active imagination and walked by. I felt surprisingly brave and walked confidently until I felt a cold hand on my rope. That was when I found out, they had placed not only people to help us keep our track, but also placed fake ghosts to spook us out. The hand I touched turned out to be a kid’s, who dressed as a “tuyul” or a ghost-boy. I lost my breath. It was cold, my shoes and overalls were wet, I couldn’t see a thing and a creepy figure was in front of me. I walked away. I don’t know how but I did. There were more challenges along the way. Someone threw leaves on me to freak me out. Another one made eerie laughs. What felt like hours finally came to an end and I joined the rest of the team around a bonfire. It was in the wee hours in the morning that we got back to our barracks, sneaked in 2 hours of sleep and woke up to pack for home. HOME!!! The word never sounded as good before. I must have slept through the whole way home. No shower, no toilet (my cubicle had beetles), my hair was completely tangled and barely any sleep, I was a zombie back home. My folks were so worried, was this how my next 4 years was going to be?

No. not at all. My apologies to the orientation crew, but none of the activities prepared us in any way for our university years. My lecturers never screamed at us, we were never humiliated for poor quality of work, we never had to record our faults on a humiliating signboard, academic reps listened to our queries and assisted us the whole way through, I never had to pull an all-nighter. So what was the point of the whole orientation routine? It was probably downright to embarrass us, intimidate us and show their position as seniors in the campus. My next 4 years sailed so smoothly, I couldn't have asked for more. Later on, I applied to join the committee of the orientation days, simply to help put a change for the next batch as honestly, it was painful to see the cycle on repeat. With a bunch of other people, we did manage some changes, although being freshmen, we couldn’t do so much.

In other developing countries, bullying during orientation is common. In India, some were made to strip in the nude, wear pigtails on their hair and dance to trashy tunes. A case in Taiwan showed freshmen being asked to pose on the roads to garner attention and laughs. This makes me feel sad because orientation is supposed to “orient” you in the days to come. In most countries, it was about survival skills in college, what to wear and what not to wear, how to ace our papers, how to choose our classes, how to shape our careers upon graduation, how to manage our load of tasks and all else, none of which we received during our orientation. Those who we managed to ask, answered fine and showed empathy but overall, we were treated like scums.

This was why I as happy for future freshmen, as they didn’t have to go through what most of the people my age did. The whole set of activities were traumatizing and I do not exaggerate the word traumatize. A few of my friends passed out during the excursion and refused to attend the first day of classes. Anyway, the law passed by the ministry of education received a lot of flak initially, mostly by campus seniors all over the country who actively took part in "welcoming" freshmen. Some freshmen too were heard complaining as they wanted to be at the other end of the torture. But overall, the law has been passed well and I believe lecturers are doing a better job at elaborating what campus life is like. Students are also involved in the activity but under supervision from lecturers to avoid unforeseeable circumstances. I honestly believe, it is human right to be asked to be treated with fairness and justice. We have the right to exercise freedom of speech and have a right to be heard. Bullying is not cool. Governments all over the world have worked hard against bullying and reduce to mental effect of bullying in freshmen. It is unacceptable for reputed universities to participate in demeaning chain of events that can scathe even the bravest of people. Kudos to the Indonesian government for the attempt of protecting freshmen!

It has been 8 years. But my active imagination still takes me back to the forest, clutching the cold hand of a little boy who sneered at me with black eyes and stone-white hands.