Purdue’s Unique Orientation: BOILER GOLD RUSH

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Starting your college career can be an intimidating thing to think about but also is an exciting step toward your future. The friendships you make and the experiences you have in college will stick with you forever. That being said, many new students ask the questions, “How do you make friends in college?” or “How do you know how to get involved on campus?”. At Purdue, the answer to this question can be Boiler Gold Rush!

Boiler Gold Rush, BGR, is an orientation program that takes place the week before classes and consists of events and activities that teach you about the traditions and resources of Purdue. It also is a great way to begin friendships with your peers! You are placed in a group of about 15 other new students and are assigned a Team Leader, TL, who will stick with your group and guide you through the days of BGR.  This helps take away from the size of Purdue and give you a close network of people to get to know who live near you in the dorms.

Your TL will take you to the dining courts, give you tours of campus, lead discussions and games, and give you tons of advice on being a student at Purdue. As a freshman, this program was a very comforting and rewarding experience because it gave me a schedule of activities and a group to go to the activities with. I made great friendships which helped me feel part of the Purdue community way faster than I had anticipated. I enjoyed it so much that the next year, I applied to be a Team Leader for the next round of new students!

Getting to teach new students about Purdue and make them feel at home was one of the most rewarding things I have done at Purdue. The Team Leaders that I trained with and I really cared about helping new students adjust to college life and we had a blast leading our new students through the events of BGR. These events included amongst other things, speakers and a club fair to teach new students about the resources at Purdue and opportunities to get involved on campus. There was also a lot of time to talk as a group and do fun things on campus such as fountain runs!

From my experience, the impact of BGR on new student’s transition to college is very positive and I would encourage anyone coming to Purdue to sign up for Boiler Gold Rush. Below is the link to more information about signing up!

https://www.purdue.edu/orientation/bgr/

In an older blog, Jessica Callahan talks about her experience with BGR and the activities she remembers and loved. Check out her post on our blog from February 27, 2014 titled “Boiler Gold Rush - The Best Orientation Program There Ever Was”.

-WE Link LT Marisa


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