The Ultimate Knight energetic and engaging program, coordinated by Emily Jensen in the Office of First Year Experience, has seen its success because of the dedication demonstrated by the student presenters. Each year, upperclassmen are selected and trained to present the information to incoming FTIC students, and each presenter has the opportunity to make their own mark on the presentation. These presenters write their stories, film videos and rehearse throughout the spring semester. Over the summer, the formal presentation is given over 34 times. Students who had the opportunity to present The Ultimate Knight have gained a life-learning experience.

Marie Gualtieri and Ryan Locco were the original student presenters in 2010. Gualtieri describes her experience, “To present The Ultimate Knight, I feel as though you must be comfortable with who you are because you tell others your stories . . .and about the tenets and college life. The process itself was like metamorphosis for me. Reflecting upon my college experience, what I stood for, and what I wanted out of my life really did change my path for my remaining undergraduate years. I completely changed my major and had been given opportunities that I would have never imagined. I know that I have gone down a path that would have never existed if I did not present that summer.”

The 2011 presenters were Chelsea Miller, Sean Simon and Joshua Wallace. Miller remembers the information she enjoyed presenting the most: “I learned even more how to be comfortable with presenting in front of a lot of strangers. Telling real stories and really seeing people relate to them made it easier to express myself in front of the large groups. Get Diversified was my favorite tenet to present because it was one of the biggest life lessons I learned my freshmen year. I came to Â鶹ԭ´´ from a small private school, so it was a culture shock to have so many different individuals around me. I shared about how different my roommates were the first summer I was here and how through putting our walls down, we became very close.”

Nick Hehr, Hayden Kaehl and Janae Mason were the most resent presenters during summer 2012. Kaehl describes the fun that they had interacting with students. “I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the student engagements during the presentation. No two [presentations] were ever alike because of the responses that we received to questions, as well as some topics for certain students.”

In the coming summer, Paulina Dubov, Robby Locco and Alison Nadelberg will present The Ultimate Knight. Their work is cut out for them, as the presentation will debut a new series of videos and presentation format. The presenters are up for the hard work though, as Locco explains: “I am excited to present The Ultimate Knight because I want to give a presentation that incoming students will remember throughout their time here at Â鶹ԭ´´.” Paulina agrees and believes that presenting The Ultimate Knight “will give me the opportunity to make a difference in the incoming freshman’s lives. It will be fun to share my experiences at Â鶹ԭ´´ and hopefully impact other students.”

The office of First Year Experience is in the Division of Student Development and Enrollment Services.

At Â鶹ԭ´´, The Ultimate Knight program began in 2008 with a professional staff presenter and changed its format in 2010 to feature student presenters. These student presenters serve as peer educators by sharing stories, discussing hot topics on campus and engaging students in dialogue related to transition issues. The modern format also helps students to feel comfortable by playing music via Grooveshark, using Prezi as the presentation medium and incorporating several videos.

The presentation format and presenter dynamic educates students on how to Get Involved, Get Smart, Get Diversified, Get Real, Get Savvy, Get to Work, Get Healthy, and Get Global so that students can Get It All Together in their first year at Â鶹ԭ´´.

The Ultimate Knight student presenters are selected in the fall semester and go through intensive training and rehearsal for this presentation. Student presenters for the upcoming 2012 summer will be Nick Hehr, Hayden Kaehl and Janae Mason.

The Office of First Year Experience is in the Division of Student Develo9pment and Enrollment Services. For more information, visit: .

Thanks to the generosity of Â鶹ԭ´´ parent Morlin Login (daughter Alexa is a sophomore),  owner of Affinity Beauty Concepts, a cosmetics distributing company in South Florida, the Knights Helping Knights Pantry will be fully stocked with soap, shampoo and conditioner for months to come.

 Login’s gift-in-kind, with an estimated value of $2,000, came about when he met Â鶹ԭ´´ Foundation staff members during his daughter’s orientation last year.

 After learning about the Â鶹ԭ´´ Parent and Family Fund — which supports student programs like the Study Union, and the Knights Helping Knights Pantry — which provides food and toiletries for current students, Login knew he wanted to help. He gave a donation at orientation to the Â鶹ԭ´´ Parent and Family Fund but was thinking bigger. Two pallets bigger, in fact.

 Login’s donation to the Knights Helping Knights Pantry will ensure that Knights are taken care of inside and out.

For the second year in a row, Â鶹ԭ´´ Housing and Residence Life’s very own Jimmy Moore presents, “The Ultimate Knight.” The event, which has been described by many freshmen as, “My favorite part of Orientation” is designed to be the kick-off to a yearlong focus for the new initiative in the .

Many offices were involved in the development of the program throughout the past academic year. The current LINK program will be the conduit to promote The Ultimate Knight throughout the academic year. This program is a division-wide effort to encourage first year students to acquire the tools and resources available through to get them started on the right foot. Moore, who wrote a book, based on the presentation he created, shares his compelling story of coming to Â鶹ԭ´´ as an orphan, and succeeding through the experience and support he received from student affairs professionals. He reminds the students, “College will change your life. The person sitting here today will not be the same person who walks across the stage at graduation.”

“Get Smart”, one of the nine tenets, focuses on academics, the keys to college success take students from the classroom to the residence hall, the Student Union and beyond ever reminding them to, “Get Involved, Get Global, Get Savvy, Get Diversified, Get Healthy, Get to work, Get Real” and with a message of balance and finding your own path to “Get it all together!” Feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive. Program leaders are expecting a great year.

is a department in the Division of Student Development and Enrollment Services.