From gap year to campus leader: Philip Dye's Waterloo journey began at orientation

Standing in line for a campus barbecue during his first week at Waterloo, Philip Dye struck up a conversation with another student who recognized the logo on his sweater from a summer camp they had both attended. Years later, they're still friends.

For Dye, that small moment captures what makes Orientation memorable. It's not just the events or activities. It's the unexpected connections that can turn a campus full of strangers into a community.

After taking a gap year before university, Dye arrived at Waterloo unsure of what his experience would look like. Instead, he found a welcoming environment that helped shape the rest of his time at the University.

“I was thinking, well, now I'm a year older than a lot of people,” Dye says. “What's this going to look like?”

The answer came quickly during Orientation week.

“Orientation was honestly a fantastic experience for me,” says Dye, now a fourth-year student. “I was worried coming in that taking a gap year would put me out of the flock. I was completely wrong on that front.”

Within days, Dye found himself immersed in the high-energy atmosphere that defines Health Orientation. Through games, group activities and conversations with fellow students, he discovered that everyone was arriving with their own stories, uncertainties and experiences.

“You're having a ton of fun and you're learning people's stories,” he says. “What's your name? What's your story?”

Among the students he met were several others who had also taken gap years. Those shared experiences helped ease his concerns and reminded him that there is no single path to university.

“Orientation helped me find people that were very similar to me,” Dye says.

For many students, Orientation is their first opportunity to build a support network before classes begin. The week introduces incoming students to campus resources, upper-year mentors and future classmates while helping them develop a sense of belonging within their faculty community.

For Dye, those connections extended beyond social relationships. As someone who was still discovering exactly where his degree might take him, Orientation also provided valuable insight into university life and his academic program.

“I learned a lot about the degree in Orientation,” he says. “I was able to meet upper-year students that explained it to me. Once I had a better idea of what I was doing, I could focus on all the fun stuff.”

While some students leave Orientation having met a future roommate or lifelong best friend, Dye says the value of the experience has been more subtle but equally important.

Over the years, he has repeatedly encountered students he first met during Orientation, whether in classes, at events or through student leadership roles.

That familiarity can make a large university feel considerably smaller.

“The connections just keep showing up,” Dye says. “You meet so many people during Orientation that later become part of your Waterloo experience in one way or another.”

Students in the Faculty of Health play Chalk Throw, a unique spin on the game Capture the Flag, where participants use chalk to disqualify players. They also participate in the “Earn Your Frisbee” ceremony, where they take the Health Oath, acknowledging that health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. 

“Our tradition is just being super welcoming, super excited and ready to push the idea of health forward,” he says.

That sense of community inspired Dye to return as an Orientation leader in his second year. Initially serving as a front-line leader, he welcomed incoming students and guided them through their first days on campus.

As a student in Recreation and Sport Business, he especially enjoyed connecting with students entering smaller programs within the faculty. “It was an amazing opportunity to connect with people who were coming into Recreation and Sport Business,” he says.

The experience also deepened his connection to Waterloo itself.

“If it makes one first-year student's experience so much better, that's totally worth it,” Dye says. “That's why a lot of us come back.”

Now approaching graduation, Dye sees Orientation as one of the experiences that helped shape his university journey. It introduced him to a community of students, gave him confidence entering an unfamiliar environment and provided opportunities to support future generations of Waterloo students.

His advice for incoming students is straightforward.

“Show up,” he says. “The first step to meeting people is showing up and saying hello.”

And for students who cannot attend Orientation, he is quick to point out that Waterloo offers countless opportunities throughout the fall term to make connections.

“There are tons of students that don't attend Orientation for various reasons, but that doesn't mean you're not going to meet people,” Dye says. “Waterloo has so many events, clubs and opportunities to get involved.”

For Dye, however, Orientation was where it all began: a week that established connections and the start of a rewarding Waterloo experience.