Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow
“Can you arrange for cones to block part of the Diamondback entrance? That should be for the exit only. I want traffic to flow smoothly,” says the Welcome Programs operations manager. Alden Sia by walkie-talkie early Monday morning.
Cars are lined up on Camelback Road, the Grand Canyon University campus is dotted with perfectly spaced orange traffic cones, staff have posted signs with directions to the dorms and apartments, and large banners reading “Welcome home, Lopes” fly on every corner.
The most eagerly awaited week at GCU is finally here: Welcome Week.
From fall semester through the end of summer, Welcome Programs spends countless hours preparing and perfecting every detail of one of the biggest initiatives on campus, and Sia is the mastermind behind its execution.
“It’s like spending 24 hours planning a wedding that’s supposed to last seven days. It’s organized chaos,” says Sia.
“Attending a university where the people behind the scenes put the student and family experience first is what sets GCU apart. The people behind the scenes who put so much heart and soul into Welcome Week and truly love what they do and serve students cannot be overlooked.”
There is a lot going on behind the scenes that most don’t get to see, especially on the first day of Welcome Week. A detailed and time-stamped timeline of Sia and her team’s efforts shows commitment, determination and passion for the Lopes community:
4:00 am: Wearing a purple Welcome Programs polo shirt, lace-up sneakers, and a high ponytail, Sia arrives at her office in the Echo Building.
4:15 am: Golf carts with assigned nameplates are parked in front of the Welcome Program office. Sia and Garrett AbeytaWelcome Programs Marketing and Communications Coordinator, grab the keys and start distributing golf carts around campus, one for each department.
4:27 am: With one hand she steers the steering wheel, with the other she speaks into her walkie-talkie. Sia parks her golf cart in front of the Student Engagement building, where Charity NormanWelcome program leader, waits with coffee in hand. Abeyta arrives shortly after, and they meet in the first floor conference room to organize charging stations for hundreds of walkie-talkies, various welcome signs, and bright yellow safety vests.
4:45 am: Sia and Abeyta split up to place flag banners and traffic signs around campus. Sia heads to the east side of campus, but stops along the way to pick up fallen cones.
“GOOD MORNING!”, cheers Event Services Manager Taylor Sprague from the other end of the parking lot before the sun had risen. “Can we have donuts?”
4:49 am: Sia arrives on the dirt road on the 29th.th Avenue entrance to check and plan lanes. “Public Safety, are you on the radio? … Anyway. I was going to ask if there are any lights we can use for the dirt parking lot because it’s really dark, but I realized the sun will be up soon.”
4:55 am: Sia and Abeyta stop on the side of the road in Palo Verde to collect a stack of large traffic cones.
Time to get creative.
“Imagine four lanes?” Sia helps Abeyta think through his plan for the dirt lot.
05:02 am: Abeyta and Sia organize traffic cones in four lanes radiating from white, easy-to-set-up tents that mark check-in points for all cars.
“Just like a Costco gas station,” says Abeyta.
5:20 am: Sia connects all pylons with barrier tape, creating a total of four lanes.
05:23 am: The first car arrives to move in.
5:34 am: Sia speeds back to her office in her golf cart to get more caution tape and colorful pens for student volunteers to use to label cars.
5:39 am: Sia distributes markers to student volunteers in the Santa Cruz, Ponderosa and Oak Creek apartments. The first line of cars forms.
5:41 am: “Who is that and why are you parking here?” asks Sia after she sees a car parked outside of her organized lanes in the dirt parking lot.
5:45 am: The first song of the day booms from the speakers.
5:52 am: The student volunteers of the first shift are standing at their positions in front of the buildings and are ready to receive the cars.
5:54 am: Sia walks through the apartments on the east side of campus, instructing student volunteers how to greet cars and direct traffic.
5:57 am: Suddenly, Sia puts her golf cart in park to fix another fallen sign.
6:15 am: The first rush of cars arrives.
6:16 am: Sia jumps out of her golf cart to place more cones in front of the entrance to the Palo Verde Apartments, blocking the driveway and forcing cars to follow the lanes in their dirt parking lot.
“You know what’s crazy? It goes on until 10 p.m.”
6:24 am: The police arrive with donuts in the back of their golf cart. Sia finally gets her first fuel of the day: a chocolate donut.
6:26 am: Still with the donut in hand, Sia walks over to the student volunteers with more markers and shows them how to label cars to improve traffic flow.
6:41 am: Sia meets with the Welcome Programs team to handle the first traffic jam in front of the Ponderosa Apartments. By waving with her left arm and pointing with her right, Sia guides the cars evenly into the appropriate lanes and clears the line of cars spilling onto the main road.
7:03 am: The traffic jam is over. Sia’s walkie-talkie rings: “Go for Alden.” Student volunteers call Sia from another part of campus to clear another traffic jam.
7:40 am: Sia puts up another exit sign on 29.th Avenue Garage is designed to help direct car traffic. Sia looks through her stack of building name signs and rearranges the magnetic board, trying to figure out how to make a sign that points left.
“I don’t have an arrow sign. Should I just make it out of tape? Should I draw it?”
8:00 am: “Where’s my caffeine? I need caffeine,” says Sia.
8:30 am: Sia finally gets her coffee and is even more motivated to run the show.
9:00 am: A new rush begins, and a new group of student volunteers trickles in, grabbing pink, green and blue markers and immediately taking care of the long line.
9:15 am: A packed line of cars, trucks and U-Hauls begins to honk excitedly as Sia jumps, screams and waves, holding up a sign that reads, “We’ve been welcoming Lopes to the fold for 75 years.”
9:40 am: Time for breakfast. That means a quick stop at GCBC and Einstein Bros Bagels.
10:17 am: Sia is back in action on the 29th.th Entering the avenue. A car is holding up the line, Sia runs to fix the problem. She tells one car to go straight, the car behind it to go left, and the next car to go right. And the traffic jam is solved.
10:27 am: Sia and Norman ride a golden car to a debriefing with public safety, Phoenix Police, Fire and Arizona Department of Transportation, making sure traffic outside of campus flows smoothly and isn’t held up by the long line of cars waiting to get in.
11:05 am: After dropping off their suitcases and boxes at their apartments, students and their families begin to walk around campus. Parents, siblings and grandparents are already showing their purple pride and Lope spirit with “Lope Family” t-shirts, purple hats and sunglasses.
11:13 am: “Hi guys, welcome. Come in,” says Sia as she gets back into action.th Avenue entrance and dirt parking lot, clearing paths, families waving and dancing to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” while holding up a welcome sign.
12pm to 10pm: Sia and her Welcome Programs team continue this energy for the rest of the day as they tirelessly work through the morning-to-night move-in days, introduced for the first time this year.
“The key is teamwork. If I couldn’t rely on my team, the event team or public safety, I would be in trouble,” Sia says. “When I’m communicating by radio, phone or in person, it’s nice to be able to rely on people. That changes everything and is just the culture of GCU.”
GCU Editor Izabela You can reach Fogarasi at (email protected)
***
See also:
GCU News: Freshmen are happy about the atmosphere of the move in in the 75th year of its existence
GCU News: Welcome to the club, all 110
