Camp War Eagle leaders help students feel at home

Lauren Foss 

Lauren Foss, a junior from Roswell, Georgia, majoring in business administration, said coming to Auburn was not her first choice, and attending CWE felt like another box to check off. 

That was, until she met her orientation counselor. 

“She just really flipped my perspective about coming to college,” Foss said. “She was the first friend I ever made at Auburn. After that, I went into my first year knowing I wanted to get involved on campus, and she really encouraged me to become a counselor.” 

Interested in a career in business, Foss attributes her professional development to her work as an orientation counselor. Regularly giving presentations to over 100 new students has prepared her to take on the boardroom after graduation. 

“I don’t think I had any of those professional skills until I became a CWE counselor,” she said. “Communication and teamwork are the main lessons I’ve learned from the job, and that’s really important to me.” 

Gracie Branham 

Gracie Branham is a senior from Pike Road, Alabama, majoring in aviation management and minoring in business. She decided to attend Auburn after seeing her older brother, a member of the marching band, fall in love with the university. 

But for Branham, things didn’t click as instantaneously. 

“So, my first year, I will go ahead and say it: I was not a good Auburn student,” she said. “I was not involved, and I really struggled to find my place. Then I saw the current CWE counselors were advertising the position and saying how awesome it was.” 

From there, Branham applied to become an orientation counselor in hopes of deepening her connection with the university community. Now, Branham’s favorite part of the job is helping incoming students work through their fears about coming to college and find their place on campus. 

“I recommend it to anyone because it helps you grow closer to the university as a whole as well as to other students,” she said. “I learned so much about the different resources Auburn has to offer, and it really made me see how lucky I am to go here. It changed my Auburn experience.” 

Will Howe 

Will Howe is a junior from Cave Spring, Georgia, studying industrial and systems engineering. He became involved with the program because of family, making him a sort of legacy counselor. 

“My aunt was also an orientation counselor, I believe in 2007 and 2008,” he said. “I didn't even grow up an Auburn fan, but she was obviously very much a fan and was always telling me, ‘If you go to Auburn, you need to get involved with these people — the best people you'll ever meet in your whole life.’ 

“And then I got to campus, and I had a really difficult time meeting people — a very common first-year experience — just kind of feeling lonely and out of place. I was going from a really small school to a big one. And I thought, ‘Hey, Rachel, you win: I'll do it.’” 

Howe’s favorite part of the job is meeting students and parents where they are. Whether they bleed orange and blue or are absolutely terrified of what college holds, he knows how to make them feel welcome and at ease. 

Don’t forget about the staff 

When asked if they had any other thoughts to share, all of the head counselors wanted to shout out the professional staff in the First Year Experience office. The head counselors are grateful for the staff members’ support and leadership.  

“They have built this program from the ground up,” Foss said. “They care more than anybody I've ever met, and we're not just numbers to them. They're really the people that do all the magic — we're just helping them out.”  

Branham enthusiastically agreed. 

“They've been here for so long, and they truly are the reason this program runs like it does,” she said. “People give the head counselors a lot of credit because we're always there and we're coordinating, but we couldn't do any of it without them.”