Gates Center for Leadership and Personal Growth > Forester Edge - Orientation 2008

The Orientation Program, "Forester Edge," at Lake Forest College has been planned with you in mind. All programs included in the Forester Edge have a specific purpose and will help educate you about living and learning at Lake Forest College, as well as give you the opportunity to meet new friends.

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Our student "Forester Guides" will assist you on move-in day and will help you get settled into life on campus.

You are strongly urged to attend all the scheduled programs / events to best prepare yourself for the transition to life at Lake Forest College. The programs on Saturday, August 23, are designed to introduce you to our beautiful campus, to many key faculty, staff, and to other new students. Sunday, August 24, will include morning family sessions, programs for students who commute, and you will get your first taste of course work at Lake Forest College with your First-Year Studies class meeting. 

Monday, August 25, will connect you with your faculty advisor and more opportunities to meet your classmates while making a difference participating in a campus-wide community service project. Monday closes with a beach party at Lake Forest Beach and refreshments and entertainment at Mohr Student Center.

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Tuesday, August 26, is “Chicago Day,” where you will enjoy a Chicago Excursion either with your First Year Studies class or with other Lake Forest College students and staff, returning for an all-campus barbecue with returning students.

Wednesday, August 27, will be filled with opportunities for more academic advising.  In the evening, you will process with First-year studies faculty to the Matriculation Ceremony at the First Presbyterian Church. The Matriculation Ceremony is your formal induction into the campus community as a new student and future alum of Lake Forest College.

Classes will begin on Thursday, August 28.

Please take some time to familiarize yourself with the information on our New Student Orientation Web site. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the "Forester Edge" Orientation Staff at the Gates Center for Leadership and Personal Growth at 847-735-5210.

"Feed Your Mind" Faculty Series

Don't miss Orientation's special "faculty after hours" discussion series.  One of the many benefits of a liberal arts education at Lake Forest College is learning to think critically not only in the classroom, but also in day-to-day life. 

We asked faculty members to continue this conversation in a series of programs that will entertain, enlighten, and challenge you to view life through an analytical lens.

Presentations are yet to be finalized, but here's a sampling of previous "Feed Your Mind" sessions:

"The Inefficiency of Uni-cycling (or, the Unlooked For Education)"

Some of us are inclined to do something because it seemed like a good idea at the time (e.g. hitchhiking through the Kalahari, eating deep-fried giant shrimp heads, becoming a die-hard Cubs fan...).  This habit is also known as learning the hard way, a pattern I continued when I got it into my head that a unicycle would be a good way to get around campus.  It's not.  Really really not.  But spending the summer trying to make it work taught me more than a person might think, and it reaffirmed for me the place of risk in education.

Holly Swyers, Assistant Professor of Anthropology

"On Doing Nothing in Particular in Chicago"

Much of the attention paid to Chicago focuses on the city's vaunted cultural and tourist attractions, mostly in and around Chicago.  Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, each with much to do.  This informal talk will quickly explain some of what can be done in the city, outside of the Loop.

David Park, Assistant Professor of Communications

"Looking at American Mainline Religion"

A discussion about how Jews, Christians, and Muslims constitute the mainline religions in the USA today.  What do these religions have in common?  What has led to rifts and tensions between Jews and Christians, Christians and Muslims, Jews and Muslims?  How do levels of consciousness create similarities and differences among these religions that in some ways are more important than the differences among the religions themselves?

Ron Miller, Professor of Religion