Aaron Cheney Works Behind Scenes for Orientation
Aaron Cheney, a sophomore with double majors in electrical engineering and mathematics, spent last summer working with the students and staff of Orientation Programs to make sure incoming freshmen received the proper Trojan Family experience.
"The best thing was meeting other students who are very involved and academically driven but who also do lots of extra curricular activities," Cheney said.
The Arcadia native worked as the special project assistant, a role that supports the Orientation Programs staff throughout the summer.
As the special project assistant, he handled responsibilities that included everything from preparing classrooms and making sure requested equipment was available for speakers, to mailing out nearly 6,000 postcards to students from their Orientation Advisors, to managing the Web site of Welcome Week's micro-seminar program.
"Aaron was one of the people behind the scenes who made sure a lot of the things in front of the scenes were happening," said Tom Studdert, director of Orientation Programs.
Cheney was also given additional responsibilities, including managing and running the "Ask Me!" information booths program during Welcome Week. At these booths, new students and their parents could ask questions, get directions and pick up information from student and staff volunteers.
"The level of responsibility and professionalism that he had was certainly more than we've seen in the past," Studdert said.
What Cheney appreciates most about being a Trojan is "the vast amount of opportunities" available to students.
"There are more than 30,000 people at this campus on a regular day, all of whom — staff members, professors and students alike — hold the potential to teach me something new every day," said Cheney.
In spring 2009, Cheney was part of USC's Emerging Leaders Program, which is designed to teach students to be better leaders in organizations on campus and in life. This fall he joined USC's Putnam math team, which will compete in December.
Cheney has also worked for Jason Cruz, project coordinator for the Ronald Tutor Campus Center, and Jennifer Puccinelli, a resource coordinator for Student Life and Involvement.
"We love Aaron and are hoping he stays on staff for the future in different roles," Studdert said. "He has a good head on his shoulders."