Purdue University Northwest (PNW) welcomed the Pride back in traditional style as Welcome Rallies were held at both the Westville and Hammond campuses on Aug. 24 and Aug. 26, respectively.
The celebrations, which have become a PNW tradition, were held as “drive-through events” in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year’s festive, in-person rallies gave students a chance to learn about the many resources and organizations that PNW offers. It was also a time for the Pride to gather as a kick-off to the new academic year. Fall semester classes began Aug. 23.
Brooke Hewson, interim assistant director of Student Engagement, said the rallies are a student engagement initiative as well as a campus-wide effort.
“We are coming back as a brand new Student Life team,” Hewson said. “We are very excited to be engaging new students, faculty and staff, the community, and student organizations.”
The Office of Student Life worked with a committee of colleagues from across the university to bring all the entities and resources together to make the events a success.
Hewson was reminded of how much fun coming back to campus was when a faculty member told her to look around the Hammond campus rally and enjoy the moment.
“People were engaging and excited. They were having a good time. I had butterflies in my stomach,” Hewson said.
Being a part of the rallies and the campus-wide effort has been Hewson’s dream job since she began working for the university 10 years ago.
“I love to work with everyone. This is so exciting,” Hewson said. “If this is a predictor of the year ahead, it’s going to be an amazing year for PNW.”
Students enjoyed free food and loads of giveaways that included shirts, cups, hats, bags, sunglasses, and more. If a student has a specific interest, it was most likely represented at the rallies as nearly 140 clubs, fraternities, sororities, academic and student service departments, and community resource organizations were sharing information, encouraging students to join, and answering various questions.
Parion Roberson, who is a freshman, will be playing basketball for the Pride. He’s excited about the new semester. Last year, Roberson’s classes were online, so he’s ready to attend classes in person again.
“It’s about coming to school and being able to meet everybody,” Roberson said. “It feels great.”
Roberson said PNW gives him a chance to stay close to his mom while attending school. He also chose PNW because of the opportunity to be part of the basketball team.
“Basketball is like family, so PNW has everything that I wanted,” Roberson said.
Freshman Kenneth Atchon, a graduate of Crown Point High School, was one of more than 1,400 students who attended the welcome rallies. Atchon is studying computer science.
“PNW is close to my home, and it’s a good school,” Atchon said. “I’m looking forward to learning more about coding.”
Associate Professor of Philosophy Samuel Zinaich, Jr. said he’s ready for the new year.
“It’s about the interaction with the students. I love being in the classroom and talking with my students, interacting with them, getting them excited about philosophical issues or about any certain topic,” Zinaich said. “That’s why I became a teacher. It’s what I’ve wanted to do.”
Zinaich is grateful for PNW’s Office of Instructional Technology for the help provided as he prepared videos and addressed other challenges he encountered when most classes had to be offered remotely last year.
“They are always helpful, and they made the transition to Zoom and back to school so easy,” Zinaich said.
PNW offers undergraduate and graduate programs in more than 70 areas of study.
Meghan Morey graduated from Purdue University in West Lafayette with a bachelor’s degree, but she wasn’t finished pursuing her dream career. Morey plans to complete prerequisites so she can be a part of Purdue Northwest’s accelerated nursing program.
“I’m really looking forward to small class sizes,” Morey said. “Lectures are completely different. There are still about 100 students in some classes, but not 400 kids. This is my second round of schooling, so I’ve learned a lot of things that I wish I would have done my first round.”
Morey gave the examples that she now sits in the front of the classroom, asks and answers questions, and stays after class to talk to the professor.
PNW also allowed Morey to schedule her classes, allowing time in between that she will use for studying. That time will enable her to also refocus for the next class. In addition, she is excited to attend classes and labs in PNW’s Nils K. Nelson Bioscience Innovation Building, which opened in August 2020.
Morey said the first week of classes went well, and she’s looking forward to attending several campus events.
PNW has planned many more events over the next several weeks for students, including a picnic for new students, a Roaring Ahead scavenger hunt, blood drives, and the Pride Stride 5K.
To learn more about Purdue University Northwest, visit https://www.pnw.edu/.
