New students enjoyed the great weather along with food, free goodies, and valuable information along the path behind the Shouse Building as part of the Student Resource Fair yesterday.

The event, one of several that make up Fall Welcome Week, gave new students the chance to learn more about what is available to them while they are at the MGH Institute. Coordinated by the Office of Student Affairs and Services (OSAS), students had the opportunity to interact with representatives from Institute offices like Campus Services, Career Services, and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. They also connected with student-run groups such as the Student Government Association, and Charlestown organizations including the YMCA.

"I feel like this is really helpful to find out about different resources,” said first-year Speech Language Pathology (SLP) student Rebecca Butler. “It’s so cool to put faces with locations and hear where stuff is."

“We had a beautiful day and there was a great presence from students, faculty, staff, administration, outside agencies, student clubs and organizations,” said Ronan Campbell, OSAS Assistant to the Dean. “It was great to see so many smiles and witness the excitement for the year ahead.”

While most students have heard about the programs and services or had interactions with them, the Resource Fair provides the opportunity to explore potential interests. JEDI Department Coordinator Michelle Wallace says that since all new students have just taken the Power, Privilege, and Positionality (PPP) course, a mandatory course students participate in with different intersectional focuses, the Resource Fair comes at a good time.

“They just took the PPP course with the theme of ‘Health at the Intersection of Race and Environmental Justice’ so students coming off the course and seeing JEDI in person made a powerful connection,” according to Wallace.

That was true for first-year SLP student, Haylie Santos, who said seeing the JEDI table reminded her that she wanted to look into its offerings after she took the PPP.

“I think I'll probably end up signing up for something like the JEDI program,” explained Santos. “They were telling us that we will have opportunities to sign up for events that will be an extension of what we learned about this summer. I think that'll be a great way to continue out what we've already started.”

Even if new students haven’t had experience with an organization yet, they were able to learn about resources that will assist them in a variety of ways, such as Career Services.

“Students are really excited because they are here for a specific career and they’re excited to learn about opportunities,” said Jessica Upton, Manager of the Center for Career and Professional Development, who added there was considerable interest in learning about getting help with resumes and cover letters and learning how to be confident in interviews.

It was day to explore possibilities and maybe, expand one’s horizons.

"It is fantastic,” said first-year Speech Language Pathology (SLP) student, Emily Miller, who went from table to table taking in what the fair had to offer. “I already feel like my mind is being open to a whole new world.”