‘This is like a family’: New Odyssey Program scholars make connections during Odyssey Week

At the beginning of Odyssey Week, Juliett Santos Reyes ’29 said she was a little nervous, concerned she would have trouble making connections as she prepared to start her first year at Elon University. But as the week went on, those nerves went away.

“I’ve really gotten to know a lot of people and over the days we’ve connected a lot,” said Santos Reyes ’29, a new scholar in the Odyssey Program who was awarded the Elon Commitment scholarship and is from Asheville, North Carolina. “This is like a family, and I’m excited to keep getting to know these people more.”

The newest cohort of Odyssey Program scholars was welcomed to campus during Odyssey Week from July 12-18, the annual orientation event for the merit-based scholarship program.

The Odyssey Program, housed in Elon University’s Center for Access and Success, provides access to mentorship, community building, leadership development, service learning and more. The program also includes a stipend for books and supplies, and a $4,000 Elon Experiences grant, which will be used for global experiences.

Andrew Hancock ’29, who is from Columbia, South Carolina and was awarded the Sam and Vicky Hunt Odyssey Scholarship, first connected with the university through the Emerging Journalists Program, hosted by the School of Communications.

“I fell in love with the campus, and I met a bunch of the professors and loved them, like Kelly Furnus and Colin Donahue. They were the best mentors I’ve ever had. I learned a lot from them,” said Hancock. “I also had a peer mentor who told me I should join the Odyssey Program because if you feel uncomfortable about meeting new people, but you take advantage of Odyssey Week, you’ll be set up for the whole year.”

The week included a series of programs to help the students make connections and learn more about Elon and the college experience.

“Coming into this week, I was really tired since I’ve been out of town since June 1 so I thought this week is going to be bad and I was going to lose my social battery within the first five minutes of the day, but then I started to meet a lot of cool people and feel like I’m going to feel at home on campus already,” Hancock said.

On July 17, the scholars had lunch with faculty and staff from across the university at “Pizza with the Pros,” which also included a faculty/staff panel moderated by Naeemah Clark, associate provost for academic inclusive excellence and professor cinema and television arts. Panelists included:

• Hillary Zaken, director of multifaith programming and engagement
• Adriana Batiz Daleccio, assistant director of career services for Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences
• Jennifer Platania, associate provost for academic affairs and associate professor of economics
• Efrain Rivera-Serrano, assistant professor of biology
• Matthew Gendle, professor of psychology
• Kimberly Romero, assistant dean of admissions for inclusive excellence

The panel touched on a variety of subjects, including how they’ve each worked to build student success, what led them to choose Elon and what mistakes they often see from first-year students.

“None of us are here because we did everything by ourselves,” said Rivera-Serrano. “… You cannot do everything by yourselves … use your resources.”

The panelists advised the scholars to make sure they are introducing themselves to faculty members, even if they don’t know exactly what to say, and attend campus events regularly, especially in their first few weeks.

“I live by the words ‘I’d rather live a life of oh wells, than to live a life of ‘what ifs,” said Elle Collins, executive director of the Center for Access and Success. “Don’t leave your four years like ‘I wish I could have done more, I wish I could have participated in that event, I wish I could have been a part of that (organization), I wish I could have did this thing.’ Do the thing, reflect on it, and it’s all going to be part of your journey and helping you grow as a person.”