“It Wasn’t Just About Information, It Felt Like Home”: Reimagining First-Year Belonging Through Small Shifts and Shared Experiences.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56433/wjvw5j16Keywords:
belonging, student voice, pre-arrival engagement, first-year transitions, open daysAbstract
Inspired by the European First Year Experience community, this vignette examines how Marino Institute of Education (MIE), a small teacher education college in Dublin, intentionally cultivated belonging by redesigning its pre-arrival engagement, replacing a passive Spring open day with the Tasters and Tours initiative.
In the context of Ireland’s centralised application system, which offers students a narrow decision-making window, the event aimed to help prospective students explore whether MIE felt like the right fit. It featured interactive taster classes, student-led campus tours, and parallel sessions for parents.
Student ambassadors, selected for their authenticity and supported through confidence-building workshops, played a central role, with 85% of attendees reporting a higher likelihood of applying to MIE.
The vignette concludes with practical reflections on implementation: belonging is not a checklist, but a feeling forged through intentional, shared experiences.
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