Kylie Milliken ‘20 Helps Shape First-Year Experience

By Amelia Yeager ‘20

Each Kenyon student remembers their New Student Orientation as a week of excitement, introductions, and creating a home. For Orientation Co-Coordinator Kylie Milliken ‘20, New Student Orientation is one of the most essential weeks of her year—even as an upperclassman. Milliken has worked behind the scenes as Orientation Co-Coordinator since January 2018 and has successfully overseen two Orientations. As she approaches graduation, Milliken looks back fondly on “a great position for professional and interpersonal experience.”

After being an Orientation Leader (OL) in August of her sophomore year, Milliken knew she wanted to continue guiding new students into life on the Hill. “I was curious about the process of how Orientation comes together, and I love the events and the people you meet, so I decided to apply [for Orientation Co-Coordinator],” she said. As a Co-Coordinator, Milliken worked with Gracie Orwick ‘21 to organize events, communicate with new students and OLs, and make sure the week ran smoothly. 

After Orientation ended in August, Milliken’s duties shifted to focus on new students’ extended experience. This transition has led to the Office of First-Year Experience (FYE) renaming Milliken’s position “First Year Experience Intern” for the upcoming academic year. “Although Orientation is a huge part of what we do,” Milliken said, “the rest of the year is also important to making sure new students acclimate to Kenyon.” To that end, Milliken has organized programming to provide new students with continued support. These events, like First-Year Formal and Harry Potter Day, constitute the Orientation Coordinators’ primary focus during the school year. 

“The event planning has taught me so much,” Milliken said. “Everything from budgeting to marketing and advertising to delegating and executing plans is important.” Milliken will bring these skills to her next career step post-graduation. She hopes to pursue teaching in a foreign country, and anticipates “using the logistical knowledge for things like lesson plans and educational programming.” Milliken, a Modern Languages and Literatures major, also stressed communication as a crucial part of her job. “Staying connected to the first-years is huge, so I write a weekly newsletter for them with tips on Kenyon life and important updates and reminders,” she said. “Our next big responsibility is hiring OLs, so it’s going to be a lot of interpersonal communication.”

Milliken also collects and analyzes data throughout the year from surveys sent out to new students. “We’re always trying to make the experience better, so it’s been really helpful to learn those hard skills.” The logistical work of Milliken’s position is essential to both Orientation and year-long activities, especially when a new FYE intern is hired for the upcoming year. 

“The new FYE intern will be learning the ropes under Gracie [Orwick ‘21], who will be the Orientation Student Director,” said Milliken, who is looking forward to meeting with applicants who are “willing to learn by doing and passionate about helping other students.” Milliken also advises that the next FYE intern needs to be flexible: “the job is about planning, but you definitely need to be able to improvise if something goes differently than you expected,” she said.

Does this sound like you? Interested students (except those studying abroad in Fall 2020) may apply on Handshake by March 16th. You can also search Handshake for other job openings, or schedule an appointment with the CDO for help with your job search.