For some students, parts of the Camp War Eagle experience leave much to be desired.
Others love the two-day crash-course about life on Auburn University's campus.
Caroline Stewart, a native of Montgomery who will study agricultural communications in the fall, said she thought it was intimidating to be grouped with people she did not know at the beginning of the session.
As camp progressed, Stewart got to know her group better and enjoyed the Tiger Talks her counselor led.
Stewart said she felt her group broke through walls of differing beliefs that would have otherwise divided them.
Although she enjoyed the pep rally and Toomer's Corner lemonade, Stewart felt the experience of getting to know people was tiring.
"I feel like you have to be extra extroverted to get to know people," Stewart said. "And sometimes that's a tiring experience."
With her family only 45 minutes away, Auburn was her final choice. However, it was more than the distance from her family that helped make her decision.
"It's just a family atmosphere," Stewart said. "You can see that at the football games, but you can also see that when you visit campus."
Stewart also said student services workers in the College of Agriculture built her excitement about studying agricultural communications, which makes her eager for the fall semester to start.
"I really enjoy interacting with people and that's where some of my natural talent lies," Stewart said.
Olivia Taylor, from Macon, Georgia, will study social work at Auburn and said she thought Camp War Eagle was overwhelming.
Taylor, who has attended football games in Jordan-Hare Stadium for years, loved the pep rally and said she felt like a student when she was in the stadium.
"The campus is awesome and I like the whole idea of the Auburn Family," Taylor said.
Taylor's mother and sisters attended Auburn. Even though it meant giving up the Georgia state lottery scholarship, she decided attending Auburn was worth it.
Taylor said her social work advisers were helpful and made the class registration process easier.
"This registration process is kind of stressful," Taylor said, "because you have to have back-up classes and back-ups to your back-ups."
Christian Hersey, a mechanical engineering major from Enterprise, decided Auburn was the college for him because "it's the best engineering college around."
"It's the only college I even applied for," Hersey said.
Hersey, whose first time in Jordan-Hare Stadium was for the pep rally, enjoyed Camp War Eagle, but said the pep rally was not loud enough and cannot wait for football games in the fall.
"With the cheers and the War Damn Eagle, I wasn't expecting that, but I liked it," Hersey said with a laugh.
Hersey also enjoyed getting to know his camp group and thought the group made the orientation process more personal.
"I'm ready for college now," he said. "I don't want to go home after this."
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