Welcoming the Newest SOMers as an Orientation Leader
Shubhi Jindal ’27 reflects on an exhausting and exhilarating week guiding an incoming cohort of SOM students through the first weeks on campus.
One day in August, I sat in Evans Hall with incoming students in the Master of Advanced Management program as they created a set of community norms that would guide their experience at Yale SOM. The purpose of the exercise wasn’t obvious right away to all the students. Because they’re in a one-year program, they only take two required courses together, and might not have many opportunities to spend time together as a cohort. I told them that while they will find many homes at SOM, they can get the most out of their experience by making their cohort one of those homes. Together, we came up with a slate of “mindset” and “action” norms. For example, in order to create a culture of constructive feedback, students committed to criticize ideas and not people during discussions; they also set a goal of proactive and timely communication to respect each other’s time.
Setting community norms is a core part of SOM Orientation. It’s a way for cohorts to decide on foundational values and hold each other to a higher standard. Because it’s a self-driven process, it gives students a sense of ownership of their own experience. By the end, students have started to build a culture of educating leaders for business and society—the school’s mission—within their own class.
As one of 10 Orientation Leaders (OLs), I helped facilitate this and many other activities during new students’ first week on campus, a packed schedule of daytime programming followed by impromptu social events in the evening. The week includes some curriculum-based sessions—like an overview of the academic year or the Honor Code—and more interactive activities led by the OLs. In addition to building community norms, we led dialogue circles, a board game night, and gatherings at New Haven favorites like Elena’s Ice Cream and Chacra, a Peruvian bar.
Orientation culminates in Spirit Day, a day of outdoor games that I organized alongside my fellow OLs. It’s based on inter-cohort rivalry, with the different MBA cohorts and degree programs competing against each other on a field at East Rock Park. We started out with tug of war and dodgeball—pretty straightforward games that people play all over the world. Then we did two relay races based on the TV show Squid Game. Students go all out dressing in their cohort colors, and there’s a lot of cheering—it gets pretty intense and competitive!
But we also understand that not everyone is outdoorsy, and we wanted to make sure there were different ways to participate. We used the board game night to let students accumulate some points for Spirit Day with inter-cohort Pictionary, Mario, and Jenga. And within each cohort, we asked people to self-select into more competitive and more casual groups so everyone could compete in a way that felt comfortable and fair. One of the most fulfilling parts of Spirit Day was seeing how quickly each cohort developed a real sense of belonging. Most students had only met each other a week before, but the energy and healthy competition brought everyone together in a really special way. Beyond just wanting to win, students were cheering each other on, showing up for their cohort, and having each other’s backs. It really showed how quickly a strong community can form when people are given a reason to come together.
I was inspired to be an OL by my own experience as a new SOM student last year. The OLs who helped me were a touchpoint between students and the school experience as a whole; any time we had a more formal session, we would later chat with our OLs to understand how everything works day to day, and what practical dos and don’ts would help us succeed in this space. Over the past year, one of the most important things I gained from SOM is the community. For me, being an OL was another way to get to know more people and expand that community—especially since there aren’t that many ways for MBA students like me to interact with students in the one-year degree programs.
The experience was more work than I could have imagined! Even with wonderful faculty and staff running the program, there’s a lot of logistical management involved in every session. My WhatsApp was always blowing up with questions from new students about everything from how to approach recruiting for different industries to what their learning teams will look like to where to find Indian food or dance classes on campus.
Every evening during Orientation, the OLs met to debrief and go over any questions that came up during the day. Each of the OLs brought a unique but positive energy to the group. Working with them has been one of my most fulfilling experiences at SOM, and watching the week unfold has changed how I think about leadership. I’ve always been a fan of working collaboratively, but most of my experience has been participating in teams as an equal member. This week, I saw how my words and positive reinforcement can make a difference in their year.
In my last reflection session with the MAM cohort, we all chatted about the events of the week and I shared some of my experiences at SOM. Everyone wanted to keep in touch, and I realized that in just a few days, I had built another community I could rely on for the rest of my time at SOM. I’m leaving the week really excited for the coming year, knowing this experience will shape how I show up as a leader and speaker in the professional world.
