New Student Programs put on a crafty Valentine’s Day event for specifically first year students, but it was also open to all students. The event called “Access Hamline: Making Valentines” is one of many events geared for first year students to gain greater access and understanding of campus. The event took place on February 3rd during convo hour.

Taleah Aldritt, a student coordinator for New Student Programs, and the one in charge of the Access Hamline Valentine event, was there to greet students as they came in. 

“The whole point of our access Hamline events, we have four of them this year, and two of them are kind of an extended orientation program for new spring semester students because we know how hard it can be for new students, and especially new spring semester students,” Aldritt said. 

“For this event we wanted it to be very collaborative and open so that new students can meet each other, and we figured since it was so close to Valentine’s day that it would be a good way for students to meet each other.” 

The event was very collaborative and allowed attendees to make valentines for their loved ones. There was a table set up with crafts and music to jam to while crafting. The space was very open and inviting and a handful of new students came and were able to meet friends while being creative.  

Tjessa Arradondo, a second year student, enjoyed the event. 

“I heard about this event through a friend on Instagram and it seemed really cool,” Arradondo said. 

Even though Arradondo is not a new student, she benefited from the event.

“Last year being a first year and not having anything in person was really tough and it was hard to get to know people in online settings,” Arradondo said. “So I thought, hey, I will go to this event and meet some new people.”

Because of the constraints of the pandemic this year, but especially the past couple of years, it is not just first year students in need of meeting new people. While these events are geared towards new students, it is open to all. 

“Our next couple events are targeted on registration, and understanding workday because it can be very confusing. We are also having an event on what CASA [Center for Academic Success and Achievement] is because there are many acronyms associated with college and it’s really hard to know what they all mean and then our last event will be another fun crafting event,” Aldritt said. “Overall they’re targeted to help our new students in the spring get acclimated to campus.”

In order to keep up with what Hamline’s NSM and the New Student Programs office are up to as 

well as other Access Hamline events, make sure to keep an eye out on their Instagram page @hamlinensp.