With the end of summer drawing near, La Lumiere is preparing to welcome back its student body. However, before the entirety of the school arrives back on campus on August 15, La Lumiere will host its annual international orientation.
Every year before the school year officially begins, the new international students arrive on campus a few days before everyone else to get more acquainted with their surroundings. While international orientation only lasts for a couple of days, it provides the new students a chance to get settled before the arrival of all boarding students.
This year, La Lumiere will be welcoming 19 new international students from 14 different countries all over the world including Germany, Serbia, Spain, Rwanda, and many others.
Mary Pickens Corsones, Assistant Director of Admissions, is extremely excited to be able to have international orientation this year, as it was not able to happen last year.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic last year, we were forced to do international orientation online, which does not provide the same experience as being in person on campus. It is so exciting to be able to welcome them in person and help them get used to American culture before school officially starts,” said Pickens Corsones.
Throughout their first few days here, the international students get the chance to learn more about the La Lumiere community and what their year at school will look like. They get the chance to move into their dorms early, learn more about the layout of the campus, and even get the chance to explore the local area with trips to South Bend and Michigan City.
International orientation does not just focus on the new environment that these students will be immersed in, but it also allows them to learn more about this new community they are joining. In the midst of all the trips and campus tours, the high schoolers have the chance to meet some of their teachers and dorm parents, with who they will be interacting year-round. Not just adults are introduced, but some of their classmates as well.
In the past, international orientation was primarily a way for the new students from around the world to get to know the campus and adults better. But in the past few years, more current students at La Lumiere have become involved with welcoming the new students.
Paulyn Church, the Director of Inclusion, created a new program called American Partners. This program pairs up new international students with current La Lumiere students. The goal of the program is to allow the international students to have someone who is not a teacher that they can reach out to with questions.
The program doesn't end after international orientation though. It continues on throughout the year, allowing for a connection to be formed between the two partners. Church laid out the importance of this connection in a meeting with the La Lumiere students who signed up for the American Partners Program.
“This program will allow your partner not only to have someone to talk to as they adjust to this new life, but it will also allow you a chance to learn about them and their culture,” said Church.
While the program is relatively new to the school, it has already proven to create strong friendships between students. Pickens Corsones, after seeing the connections and relationships built last year, even with a virtual online orientation instead of an in-person one, has seen how significant the American Partners program really is.
“When we pair up the international students with a current La Lumiere student, we try to match them based on similar interests and grade levels so that the partners have common interests. Then, when they finally get here and meet their partners, it creates a sense of belonging for them and helps the international students truly feel how much they are valued and welcomed in this community,” Pickens Corsones said. “By having these relationships formed even before they arrive, this creates bonds that last all year and in turn is rewarding to both students as they form, hopefully, lifelong friendships and learn all about each other’s cultures.”
The American Partners program has already started this year and has proved to already be quite the success with many international students and their partners already emailing back and forth. The partners will meet each other in person when the international students arrive on Wednesday, August 11.
Following the end of international orientation, next Sunday, August 15, is the official start of the 2021-2022 school year. All students will come to campus that day to begin orientation week, which is a favorite of many of the students.
Throughout the week, the whole student body will have mini-class sessions to meet their teachers, find where their classrooms are, take part in their first athletic practices, and play some all-school competitive games in their head cup teams.
Each year at the start of the school year, all the new students are sorted into head cup teams. These are four teams named after four different past La Lumiere headmasters. During the school year, these four teams compete against each other in various games and activities, with orientation week being the kickoff event for the official head cup race. As the teams take part in these games, they earn points for winning. Finally, at the end of the school year, the team with the most points wins.
While orientation week is a very busy time, the student body is looking forward to having a more normal beginning of the school year this year and getting to compete in various heads cup games. While summer has seemingly flashed past, many are looking forward to this hopefully more normal school year, with their friends and teachers.