Coordinators Laura Brannen and Joe Cudzilo have been busy planning and preparing for this year’s Summer Preview sessions scheduled to begin in July.

Summer Preview is a one-day or two-day immersion program that provides incoming students and their families with the opportunity to learn more about college life here at Creighton University. Brannen and Cudzilo have been planning this year’s sessions since last September, developing the program and training student guides in February and March.

Approximately 65 percent of incoming students attend Summer Preview, which amounts to around 650 students for this year’s sessions. The theme this year is “Dream, Challenge, Grow,” and will take place over four sessions. There will be a one-day session on July 15, as well as three two-day sessions on July 17-18, 21-22, and 24-25.

Brannen, an Arts & Sciences senior, said the highlight of the sessions for her is the comfort new students will feel in the fall.

“When they come in the fall, to have those familiar faces will be really reassuring,” Brannen said.

Those familiar faces will be those from many different areas of campus, as Summer Preview focuses on the basics of life in the Creighton community. Students go through a day in the life of a college student with some sample, shortened classes. They also have a scavenger hunt to get to know campus and where things are on campus. Programs also are offered for students and their families, as each group has varying needs.

Parents want to know things such as whether their child will be safe at college, or if they will maintain their morals in a more independent-living environment.

“They just need that reassurance that everything will be OK,” said Cudzilo, an Arts & Sciences senior.

Students, on the other hand, are interested in how to study or where they should go for entertainment in Omaha.

Summer Preview allows students to make new friends before they begin school in the fall through various activities such as ice breakers led by the 28 student guides, the scavenger hunts around campus, and small group interactions with new students or upperclassmen.

One of the most beneficial highlights for students is the opportunity to meet their academic advisers to review their fall schedule and ask any academic questions they may have. The students also get the chance to meet upperclass students so there are some familiar faces come August.

Brannen, who is now providing these opportunities to students, recalled how influential her summer preview was as an incoming freshman.

“I didn’t realize how much of an impact it made on me until I came in the fall,” Brannen said.

Some of the challenges for Brannen and Cudzilo as coordinators are dealing with closed sessions or learning to be flexible with activities due to the unpredictable Omaha weather. Overall, the two are excited to introduce students to life at the university.

“I want students to walk away knowing that college is a big transition, but it’s fun in every aspect,” Brannen said.