Five Towns College welcomes new students at Orientation 2026
By Grace Bonamico
As the summer heat starts to die down, Five Towns College welcomed a new class of students on Tuesday, Sept. 1, with a jam-packed orientation day designed to help everyone get familiar with the campus, meet new friends, and get introduced to college life.
It’s not just students from Long Island and across the U.S. attending FTC this semester; students from abroad are also joining the college community, including Mass Communications major Callum Jones from the United Kingdom. “It’s a completely different environment, full of different people from all across the world, which I think is really attractive.”
Orientation began with students checking in and enjoying breakfast provided by Five Towns College food services before making their way to the Performing Arts Center, where they were welcomed by Provost Dr. Marsha Pollard, Assistant Dean for Campus Life Michael Cavalli, and this year’s Orientation Leaders.
During the orientation, students were split into groups and taken to different breakout sessions to learn about what the college offers. Morning sessions included Student Support Services and FTC Connections, while afternoon sessions included Instructional Technology and Academic Advising. Between the rotating session blocks, a Major Lunch was held in the Upbeat, allowing everyone to sit with their respective majors to get to know one another and meet some of their department’s professors.
During lunch, new students expressed their excitement about beginning their college experience and immersing themselves in an environment aligned with their passions. “I’m so excited to just be on stage dancing. I love how many dance classes we’re taking,” said Musical Theatre major Alice Schoonover.
After the keynote, a few more session blocks and closing remarks from College President Dr. David Cohen, orientation came to an end with a dessert reception. “I thought the orientation was very helpful because not only are you getting a tour of the school, you’re getting to meet all the people that you’re going to be spending the whole year with,” said Production Design major Natalia Michael. “And I think it’s a lot better than just sitting in an auditorium and just listening to teachers talk about things that are common sense.”
Orientation wasn’t the last of the welcome festivities. On the first day of classes on Sept.2, Campus Events hosted Five Towns Central Perk: Coffee Cart & Resources offering free specialty coffee drinks, including the Faders Fuel (A vanilla sweet cream latte made with iced coffee concentrate, choice of milk, vanilla syrup, and topped with sweet cream cold foam), the Strawberry Fields Forever (A strawberry vanilla matcha latte with strawberry matcha powder, choice of milk, vanilla syrup, and topped with sweet cream cold foam), the Spice Up Your Semester (A pumpkin spice latte with pumpkin spice coffee concentrate, choice of milk, vanilla or caramel syrup, and topped with pumpkin spice cold foam) and more creative concoctions. The midday event gave new students additional fuel and the opportunity to mingle with other students.
New semester fun doesn’t end with the first week. September is packed with events for all students to help usher in the school year, including Convocation on Thursday, Sept. 10.
