Fall 2022 ORIENTATION WEEK

The Society of Graduate Students is pleased to present its FALL 2022 Term Graduate Student Orientation Week schedule of events! These events run Monday, September 19th to Sunday, September 25th, 2022.

ALL SOGS MEMBERS ARE WELCOME TO PARTICIPATE!

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19:

WELCOME TO GRAD LIFE at WESTERNU | 9am-11:30am at the Grad Club

Drop by the Grad Club for a complimentary continental breakfast (coffee or tea and a muffin or croissant) and meet your grad life stakeholders. First come, first served!

Get resources and information about grad life services and meet your campus advocates and supports. Learn more about your health plan, your TA labour union (PSAC 610), as well as various campus stakeholders.

Attendees will be entered to win some sweet prizes!

How to get your FREE Breakfast: Show the O-Week volunteers or Grad Club staff the SOGS FALL 2022 Term O-Week mass email (dated Tuesday, September 13th, 2022 from sogs.communications@uwo.ca) as proof that you are a currently enrolled SOGS member.

COVID-19 BOOSTER CLINIC | 10am-3pm in Middlesex College, room 10

Get your COVID-19 booster in the SOGS multi-purpose room. Rexall pharmacy will be issuing boosters. Registration is required.

Boosters take 15-minutes. Students must bring their OHIP or UHIP cards (or other provincial health card) and will complete a Patient Consent Form upon arrival.

Drop-ins welcome, but priority given to grads who have booked an appointment.

WELCOME BACK PARTY FOR UPPER YEAR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS | 4:30-6:30pm at UC HILL

Western International is hosting a welcome back party for upper year graduate and undergraduate international students! Join us to meet new friends and reconnect with old friends!

There will be lots of fun and games, including icebreaker games, board games and physical games like tug of war, soccer and more.

Refreshments will be provided.

GRADCAST AND CHILL TRIVIA | 7:00pm at the Grad Club

Join SOGS’ GradCast Radio Show crew for a night of general television and film-themed trivia! Questions will be based on the Netflix catalogue.

Bring your friends, lab mates, and peers for a night of casual trivia fun.

PRIZES FOR THE WINNING TEAMS!

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20:

OUTDOOR YOGA WITH BROOKE BLISS | forested area in front of Middlesex College at 4:30pm

Join your fellow peer, Brooke Bliss, and the Graduate Peer Support committee for a hour-long yoga session outdoors!

Meet us on the front steps of Middlesex College. We will do our yoga class in the shady, forested area in front of Middlesex College. BYO yoga mat and water.

GRAD CLUB TUESDAY NIGHT TRIVIA | 7pm at the Grad Club

Join your peer trivia hosts for another instalment of the Grad Club’s weekly trivia night! Come alone or bring a group of your peers, lab mates, and/or friends!

General trivia. Prizes for winning teams. Three (3) rounds of trivia.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21:

INDIGENOUS GRAD STUDENT BRUNCH | 10am – 12pm at the Grad Club patio

Join Indigenous Initiatives staff for a drop-in graduate student brunch at the Grad Club. Indigenous grad students eat for free!

Meet staff on the patio to connect and learn more about the graduate student support network and upcoming research symposium! Drop-ins also welcome.

GRAD STUDENT FAMILY BBQ | 6:30pm at the Grad Club patio | $10 tickets

Join us for a family-friendly BBQ at the Grad Club on Wednesday, September 21st at 6:30pm-8:30pm. Spouses and children welcome to attend!

MENU: Chicken burger (halal) or beef burger or veggie burger | fries | garden salad | pop

SOGS is subsidizing the cost of each ticket (max 100 tickets will be sold). Tickets are limited to SOGS members and their immediate families. Instruct your grad student friends to buy their own tickets.

BOARD GAME NIGHT | 7:00pm at the Grad Club

Join the SOGS Orientation and Social Committee for another monthly instalment of our standing board game night. The Grad Club owns a collection of over 60p board games!

Bring your friends, lab mates and peers! Don’t know anyone? Don’t worry! The OSC volunteers will introduce folks who are flying solo.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22:

SCULPTURE GARDEN TOUR & ART EXHIBITION OPENING | 4:30pm at the McIntosh Gallery

Join us for a walking tour of the McIntosh Gallery’s outdoor sculpture garden, led by Dr. Catherine Elliot Shaw, Director of the gallery. Tour is approximately 30 minutes long. Spots are limited.

Stick around after the tour to attend the opening exhibition event of Hunter Gatherer featuring the art of Nicholas Crombach, Emily Jan, Philippa Jones, Meryl McMaster, curated by SOGS alumni Dr. Helen Gregory. *There should be food and drink at the reception.

CRAFT NIGHT: PAINT YOUR OWN PLANT POT | 7pm at the Grad Club | $5 Tickets

Joint the Grad Club committee for another instalment of our Grad Club craft nights! This time we’re painting 4 inch terracotta plant pots and saucers, which are great for small tropical plants, succulents, and more!

We’ve got paint, brushes, sparkles, etc., so all you need to do is show up and have fun!

Ticket price has been subsidized by SOGS! $5 per person. One ticket sold per SOGS member.

Tickets are limited! 30 tickets available. First come, first served.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23:

BON FIRE NIGHT & TOO NICE CONCERT | 8pm on the Grad Club patio

Join us for another grad life tradition — bon fire night at the Grad Club — and concert on the Grad Club patio. This time we’ve hired Too Nice, a local ska and reggae band (that is comprised is also comprised of SOGS members!) and will be offering complimentary regular and vegan/halal s’mores packs.

EVENT IS FREE FOR SOGS MEMBERS! Register so we have a sense of dietary needs.

S’mores packs and space on the patio is limited so first come, first served.

Learn more about TOO NICE and listen to some of their songs at toonice.ca.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24:

HOMECOMING FOOTBALL GAME & PUB GRUB | 1pm-4pm at the Grad Club

Join us for the live stream of the Western Mustang’s homecoming football game and FREE pub grub (bar appetizers like nachos, cauliflower bites, wings, and more) at the Grad Club. Register to attend.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25:

BUS TRIP TO APPLE LAND STATION | 11AM – 3PM | $10 TICKETS

We are super excited to bring a busload of grads to Apple Land Station for an afternoon of apple picking, corn maze adventures, bakery indulgences (they make the BEST apple pies), and hopefully numerous selfie photo opportunities in their *new* Instagram-worthy sunflower field.

Tickets: $10 (includes bus to and from Apple Land and entrance into the farm)

*Guests can buy their own 10lb ($15) and 20lb ($25) bags to pick apples at the entrance gate.

Appleland station address: 329 Richmond Street, Thorndale, Ontario Canada

PICK-UP: 11am at Middlesex College front doors (driveway)

DROP-OFF: 3pm at Middlesex College front doors (driveway)

Learn more about Appleland and its amenities: www.applelandstation.com/

To make this event accessible for as many SOGS members as possible, we’re subsidizing this cost of this event. Therefore, we cannot sell tickets to friends and family members of grad students. One ticket per SOGS member.

FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED — limited (44) tickets.

Questions about SOGS Orientation Week? Email the SOGS Communications and Promotions Manager (sogs.communications@uwo.ca).