Welcome back to Charging Up Your First Year! In this episode, we’re joined by OC Marissa to chat about some of Union’s favorite campus traditions (from cherished events to waiting in line for t-shirts) that help make Union feel like home. We only had about 20 minutes, so while we didn’t get to cover every tradition, we hit some highlights that we hope get you excited for what's to come.

In this first full episode of Charging Up Your First Year, Aileen is joined by Orientation Committee member Ben to talk about what a typical day looks like for him as a Union student. They also highlight many academic support resources available to help you succeed and share important reminders about forms and deadlines in your applicant portal.

In this introduction episode, you'll hear from Charging Up Your First-Year hosts Aileen and Talya as they introduce themselves and share information on what this podcast will be about. This series is intended for Union College's class of 2029 incoming students and their families and supporters. This series will assist in your transition to Union College and help to prepare new students for their arrival to campus in Fall 2025.

Be sure to subscribe to our podcast to receive notifications of our bi-weekly uploads! Our first full episode premieres on Wednesday, May 21st.

On this surprise episode, Aileen and Ally got to sit down with some of the members of Bon Appetit, Union College's new dining vendor to talk all things food on campus! We hope you're as excited as we are to try all that's new!

On our final(!?!) episode of the season, (almost) all of our Orientation Members come back to join Aileen and Ally to talk about what they've been up to this summer and how excited they are to welcome the class of 2028 to campus in just a few weeks!

Aileen and Ally are joined by Union's First Year Community Directors, or CDs, our professional staff members who oversee our first-year buildings, Ana Bourque and Samantha Kardash. Together, they discuss what to pack and what not to pack as you prepare to move-in!

Aileen and Ally are joined by Katie Davin, Assistant Director of Student Activities and returning guest, Emily Rocha to talk about what to expect in your first year and the launch of our new Bolt Points program!

Ally and Aileen are joined by Roger Woolsey, the Executive Director of the Career Center in Becker Hall to talk about the Career Center and interacting with his area as a first year student and beyond.