One with nature

COÖP move-in is tomorrow, so get ready to have a fun few days in nature and spend the next four years reminiscing nonstop about it. We asked COÖP Queen Daniela Lopez to share some insight about the program.

First thing’s first: what is COÖP?

COÖP stands for Columbia Obese Owl Protection Columbia Outdoor Orientation Program and it has three divisions: Hiking, River Canoeing, and Biking (also known as the vaguely adorable HÖP, RÖP, and BÖP). Because it starts the week before the mandatory Columbia orientation, COÖP can be thought of more as a pre-orientation program. Like other Columbia pre-orientation programs (e.g. CUE and ISOP), COÖP is optional and, currently, only for incoming Columbia College and SEAS freshmen.

What’s the schedule like?

Students move in Wednesday the 20th, 4 days before NSOP. Take advantage of your early move-in time by staking a claim on the better half of your room before your roommate arrives. We also recommend using this extra time to throw empty vodka bottles, general effluvia, and a liberal amount of trash all over your future roomie’s bed to make a great first impression.

After move-in, all 200-ish participants take part in an awkward orgy super fun group bonding activities for the afternoon before breaking up into smaller groups and programs for the evening.

Students then spend 3 days in the great outdoors (hiking in the Catskills, river canoeing on the Delaware River, and biking in the Hudson Valley) in small groups and bonding over delicious meals made memorable by meatstick, bean juice, mac ‘n’ cheese, hummus, and Nutella (sometimes all combined if you’re feeling like you’re the worst person ever adventurous). By the time your return to Columbia, you’ll have most likely turned into a disgusting dirt-monster. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is squeaky clean and 10 is Pigpen fucking a disinterred body, expect to be around a 12.

How a pre-orientation program affects your NSOP experience:

COÖPers get to move in early and spend over 80 hours with the same group of people without any outside distractions (e.g. no Facebook or, if you’re classy, NPR), meaning that by the time you come back to campus the day before NSOP, you’ve likely already made some great friends. If you haven’t, don’t sweat it — it just means that you’re an all-around mediocre person and that you will never have any worthwhile relationships ever. Furthermore, you’ll have the chance to ask returning students any questions you might have. And that’s one of the greatest parts of COÖP— if four days of troweling and stuffing your face with food didn’t already sound too good to be true, you’re also left with a solid support group that can last not only through NSOP or freshman year, but through senior year and beyond.

Some people distance themselves from their COÖP group the first day of NSOP, while others are virtually attached at the hip to their fellow wilderness warriors. We get it — stranger danger. New people are scary and, if they’re CU students, probably weird. In these uncertain times, it can be tempting to fall back on your COÖP group; however, as COÖP leaders will advise at the tops of their lungs, you should avoid hanging out solely with your COÖP group. Go out and enjoy the wide world of CU! Make some lasting friends and some lifelong enemies.

About your “leaders”:

Every group will have at least one male leader and one female leader, all from either CC or SEAS. Though it is not required that they do COÖP as a freshman, the majority of leaders are COÖP alumni. In the wise words of our resident hippity-hoppin’ HÖP leader, Dani Lopez, “COÖP ‘leader’ selection and training are pretty rigorous but all leaders put up with it for one reason- because we are passionate about COÖP and want to help incoming freshmen. Regardless of skill level, we are COÖP ‘leaders’ because it is clear that there are few things we find more appealing than the idea of helping you incoming freshmen flourish at Columbia. As a result, don’t be afraid to ask us any questions you have about Columbia (personal or not); even if we don’t know the answer, the COÖP community is so diverse that we likely know someone who does. I use quotation marks around ‘leaders’ because even though we’re leading you, we are at most only a few years older than you. Think of us as friends instead.”

Advice from Dani:

• COÖP is ultimately what you make of it—if you’re not just as excited, positive, and friendly as we are, you’re only hurting yourself. One person being negative can really bring the group down and that’s just not fair to everyone. Likewise, remember that everyone is just as nervous as you are, so not only will we the leaders appreciate it if you step up and break the ice, but so will your fellow campers.
• Don’t feel like you have to prove yourself. You already made it into Columbia, so everyone already knows what a special snowflake you are—just relax, have fun, and try not to take yourself too seriously.

Answers to other questions can be found on the COÖP website.

A casual Tuesday afternoon via Shutterstock