An Orientation Week jam-packed with activities welcomed NYU Shanghai’s largest-ever cohort of incoming students to their new lives as members of the Class of 2029. They made friends from around the world and prepared for the year ahead as they explored campus and Shanghai.
The newest Qilins were led by a team of 41 Orientation Ambassadors (OAs), upperclass students who volunteer to guide first-year students through their first week at university and help them adjust to college life.
Isaac Cheaz ’28, who was born in Boston but grew up in the Dominican Republic, said he still remembered the many difficulties he encountered during his first year, so he and his friends decided to volunteer to help new students. “The most important part of the job is communication,” he said. “If you can’t connect with your students then the whole job collapses.”
Shelly Lu, director of Center for New Student Programs, said Orientation Week is a great way to integrate the incoming students into NYU Shanghai’s campus culture. “We wanted to make everyone feel ready for a new school year and feel at home here,” said Lu. “It’s great to see everyone on our new campus interacting, meeting, and having fun together.”
So what happens at Orientation Week? Each day was a whirlwind of activities as students got to know NYU Shanghai and each other.
Monday: Big Ideas and First Looks
The week kicked off with Monday’s University Welcome as the entire incoming class gathered for the first time in the campus gymnasium. Chancellor Tong Shijun, Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman, and Provost Bei Wu offered words of advice to the Class of 2029 and Orientation Ambassadors performed rousing dance numbers.
Zhang Keqin, a first-year student from Zhejiang Province, said that one piece of advice from leadership had stuck with her: spend two hours a day communicating in her second language with students from different cultural backgrounds. "My roommates are two American students,” she said, “and I want to try to follow their advice and give it a try.”
Tuesday: Break the Ice and Build the Hype
After a morning of sessions on academic advising and college expectations, the Class of 2029 settled into the business of getting to know each other. Games and ice breakers helped each Qilin share their unique story. Representing more than 50 countries, the first-years learned about each other through stories of their favorite foods from home.
Then it was time for Fun Olympics, with first-year students bonding through team-building challenges. The activities generated a lot of laughs, a few tears, and countless memories as the students tried their best to collaborate with each other and beat the competition.
OA Isaac Cheaz ’28 said the Fun Olympics was his favorite part of Orientation Week because of how well everyone bonded. To motivate his group of first-years, he promised to buy them all boba tea if they did well in the challenges, and it did the trick. “It was a core memory of this Orientation Week,” he said.
One of his first-year students, Annie Yang ’29 from Orlando in the United States, says the activity helped her group bond. “I really enjoyed being able to work together with them as a team towards the same goal,” she said “There was so much giggles and cheering that made it really rewarding in the end, even if we didn’t get first place.”
Wednesday: Deep Dives and Night Vibes
Students spent the morning discussing essential skills for university life, like time management, communication, civic engagement, and the art of disagreeing.
All first-year students attend a discussion covering an array of topics including respecting others, consent, healthy relationships, and sexual misconduct. They also learned about community standards and Title IX, essential for maintaining a safe and respectful campus environment.
As dusk fell, a night run allowed students to explore the neighborhood under the light of streetlamps, including the Qiantian Riverside Park just a short distance from campus.
Thursday: City Streets & Selfies
After learning about Library resources and campus facilities, the students ditched campus for an epic city-wide scavenger hunt that had them racing through the streets of Shanghai.
It wasn’t just fun and games—the activity got them acclimated to moving around and using public transportation in one of the busiest cities in the world. They snapped selfies next to iconic Shanghai landmarks such as the Bund, Shanghai Pearl Tower, China Art Museum, the West Bund, Yu Gardens, Wukang Mansion, and the Xujiahui Cathedral.
“It gave me a lot of exposure to Shanghai and where to go,” said Oliver Bodden-Howard ’29, from San Francisco in the US. “It helped me map out the city.” The local Shanghainese students on his team really helped him get oriented to the city, he said, and he looks forward to exploring more.
Friday: Food, Forum, and Festivities
The students started the day by discussing this year’s NYU Shanghai Reads book selection, Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America, by Yong Chen. Every year NYU Shanghai selects a book for the entire community to read and organizes activities around the themes of the book.
The Q(ilin) Forum invited students to join in faculty, staff, and student-led workshops and sessions on a diverse range of topics, covering everything from tea culture to generative AI, performance art, academic preparation, and emerging technologies.
The day closed with the much-awaited NYU Shanghai’s Got Talent Show, where new students showed off their talents in singing, dancing, guitar, piano and even harp.
Saturday: Giving Back and Letting Loose!
NYU Shanghai closed out Orientation Week with a morning of service work organized by the Dean's Service Corps (DSC). Students engaged with the community by participating in activities at social enterprises, sorting donations for local charities, visiting the elderly, and joining a beach cleanup.
Back on campus, the students let loose at the annual Qilin Fest, where they enjoyed street fair vibes on the quad and an afternoon of musical performances, water fights, carnival games, and snacks from local food vendors. It was a great opportunity to socialize and enjoy the last days of summer before the fall semester kicked off.
Phoebe Battogtokh ’28, an Orientation Ambassador from Mongolia, said the week she spent training to be an OA and the week she led her OA group through Orientation were non-stop hard work but full of fun and socializing, too. “It was the best time of my life,” she said.