Pre-Orientation Programs

Ignite

Description: An immersive and interactive 5-day experience for incoming first-year students dedicated to building community before Orientation begins. Ignite provides opportunities to explore Atlanta, connect with faculty and staff, and find community among peers as you settle into your new home at Emory. As an Ignite participant, you will engage in experiential and reflective activities related to self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills. 

During part of the week, we will break out into smaller cohorts that are focused on areas of interest. This gives participants the opportunity to engage with students outside of their assigned small group, meet faculty and staff from different areas on campus, and explore interest areas -- including ways to engage with different communities at Emory. Here are the Pre-Orientation tracks for 2023:

• Ignite Intersections: Explore topics such as intersectionality, social identities, and inclusive leadership! Hosted by Belonging Community Justice (BCJ), this track is a great option for students interested in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  
  
• Ignite Community Engagement: Develop and apply your skills to foster a kinder and more socially just world! Hosted by Emory's Center for Civic and Community Engagement (CCE), this track offers ways to learn more about the communities around us, including programs that help members of the Emory community channel their passion for social justice, education, health care, and more into purposeful impact in the metro Atlanta community and beyond.
  
  
• Ignite Leadership: What does it mean to be a leader? Dive into Atlanta’s rich history and culture as we explore off-campus to learn about prominent community and worldwide leaders whose legacies continue to develop our understanding of leadership. Together, we’ll examine where leaders come from, where leaders go, and how leaders can make an impact on their communities. Hosted by the Office of Student Involvement, Leadership, and Transitions, this track is a great option for students looking to reflect on the way they shape and are shaped by their communities to create a roadmap of their journey as a leader at Emory.
  
  
• Ignite Creativity: Explore your creativity as Emory Arts welcomes you into the fold with activities in the visual, performing, and literary arts. Get hands-on experience both on campus and in Atlanta where you will discover all that your new creative community has to offer. Any level of arts and creativity experience welcome. 
  
  
• Ignite Sustainability: Part of what allows us to thrive as humans is the interconnectivity we share with each other and with the natural world. Interconnectivity is also at the root of sustainability, which we will explore in the Ignite Sustainability track. Join us as we dive into life in the Chattahoochee River watershed - experiencing the ways water shapes our region, seeing technologies Emory is employing to preserve this critical resource, meeting some of the local watershed champions, and tracing paths from the Emory Dining facilities to the farmers in our watershed who grow food that nourishes our community. 
  
  
• Ignite STEM (invitation only): A pre-orientation program providing support to natural science and mathematics students who are the first generation in their families to attend college, or are in identity groups underrepresented in STEM fields. Students who qualify will receive an email invitation to participate.

Number of Participants: 290

Type of Registration: First come, first served

Cost: $225

Program Contact: kaleo.laymon@emory.edu

(If you are an incoming first-year student on the Oxford campus, you can view more information on the the Oxford Ignite Pre-Orientation Program website.)

International Student Welcome (ISW)

Description: A special pre-orientation program designed for students who have grown up primarily or exclusively outside the United States. Students attending Emory on an F1 visa are required to attend.

Number of Participants: 300

Type of Registration: Invite only

Cost: $240

Summer Outdoor Adventure Retreat (SOAR)

Description: A program for incoming first-years dedicated to building community through outdoor adventure immediately before Orientation. 

Number of Participants: 96

Type of Registration: First come, first served

Cost: $275

Program Contact:  adventure@emory.edu 

Welcoming Interfaith and Spiritual Exploration (WISE)

Description: A 5-day interfaith experience designed to ease the transition to college while also providing an opportunity to explore Atlanta, build religious and philosophical literacy and interfaith leadership skills, and connect with new friends as you settle into your new home at Emory. We welcome first-year students from diverse religious, non-religious, spiritual, and ethical identities.

Number of Participants: 40

Type of Registration: First come, first served

Program Contact:  zachary.cole@emory.edu