Members of the Campus Diplomats will be calling all freshmen in an effort to make their transition to college easier.
The Campus Diplomats will be hosting its annual Freshman Phone-A-Thon in the Office of the Dean of Students from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. today through Thursday. There will be about 42 callers working each day.
Morgan Bergau, co-chair of the Freshman Phone-A-Thon, said because of time constraints, callers only reached about 50 to 70 percent of the 6,400 of freshmen on campus last year. This year, the coordinators are asking for volunteers from different campus organizations to help make phone calls so they can reach their goal.
Clarissa Lomonaco, another co-chair of program, said the hardest part is recruiting members from other organizations. The amount of time each volunteer devotes to the event will affect how many calls are made throughout the week, and it will take a lot of manpower to call each student, she said.
Organizers are very excited for the participation of celebrity callers, who are selected members from some of the sports teams and deans, Bergau said.
She participated in the Freshman Phone-A-Thon when she was a freshman and said the phone call really helped ease her nerves.
As an exploratory major, it was stressful to decide what classes to take and how to determine what she wanted to study, but talking with someone in her position made her feel as though she was not the only student in that situation, Bergau said.
UF is a big school, and many freshmen who come from a small town feel overwhelmed, she said. Knowing that students can relate to their situation and care about how they are doing makes them comfortable in their new environment, Bergau said.
