It’s hard to imagine that science students Ava Dryden and Alice Payne could be any more enthusiastic. 

Yet their enthusiasm reaches a whole other level when they’re wearing their Welcome Week “suits”.

They say the black jumpsuits — covered in four years’ worth of hand-painted artwork — unlock their alter egos. They become the dynamic duo with more than enough energy to stay on their feet for 12 hours a day for five days straight, talking with anyone and everyone.

You might spot them happily taking endless group photos of newfound friends, singing and dancing up a storm and doing their part to sustain the sense of community that defines Mac’s largest faculty. 

After a few years as Faculty of Science Sciclone student reps and executive team members, they’ll suit up next week for the last time as co-planners for Welcome Week 2025. 

“It’s been a full circle moment for us,” says Dryden. 

The two became friends at a doomed 2021 Welcome Week hike — it got scrubbed due to stormy weather. Dryden and Payne still showed up in the rain, but no one else bothered to brave the elements. 

They’d just moved into Brandon Hall with more than 550 other first-years who were still strangers — Dryden had flown in from Vancouver Island and Payne had made the drive from Ottawa. They’d run into each other earlier in the week during a game of giant Jenga. 

The transition to university had been daunting. Dryden, who was feeling a little overwhelmed and homesick, asked Payne if she wanted to hang out. Absolutely, said Payne.

They’ve been friends ever since.

It’s a big reason why they’ve stayed involved in Welcome Week and taken on leadership roles — they want to help create those moments where first-years can forge lifelong friendships. 

Welcome Week is far and away Dryden’s favourite event at Mac, and Payne considers it one of most rewarding things she’s done as an undergrad. 

“You meet students during their first day and week at Mac and then watch them grow over the years,” says Payne, who’ll graduate next spring from Molecular Biology and Genetics with a minor in Health, Aging and Society.

She’s helped students move into residence over the years, carting boxes and bedding into their rooms while reassuring parents who were trying hard to keep it together.

Some of those students she helped have gone on to volunteer as Sciclones and serve on the executive team as well. 

Dryden, who’s in her final year of Life Sciences with a minor in English and Cultural Studies, talks about the first-years who remember her from Welcome Week and stop to say hello or ask for advice. 

For Dryden, staying involved in Welcome Week is all about returning a favour.  She knew no one at McMaster when she first arrived.

“I was super scared and worried about meeting people and making friends.”

Her deer-in-the-headlights look during a Zoom event caught the attention of a Sciclone who made a point of befriending Dryden when they ran into each other on campus. “That made all the difference.” 

As planners, Payne and Dryden are the sounding board and troubleshooters for the 25-member Sciclone executive team, which plans the events run by a crew of more than 200 Sciclones.

“Everyone’s firing on all cylinders so that’s made our jobs so much easier,” says Payne.

They’ve yet to nix any events proposed by the executive team — every idea’s gotten an enthusiastic thumbs up. 

Payne and Dryden take the lead in working with staff in the Office of the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, plus external vendors and sponsors. 

Welcome Week is anchored by the “Big 3”  Faculty Fest, Faculty Day and Faculty Night. Arts and crafts, fun and games and a whole lot of inflatables are mixed in with orientation tours, talks, mock lectures and meet-and-greets with faculty and staff. 

No two Welcome Weeks in the Faculty of Science are the same — events get added, dropped and tweaked, and there’s a new theme every year.

For Welcome Week 2025, this year’s theme is built around the Shrek movies (yes, there will be a donkey on campus and no, it won’t talk).

There will also be events to bring together students from other faculties. Dryden says the team makes sure the week is inclusive and welcoming for all students, recognizing that not everyone’s an extrovert who loves playing team sports, a foam party or belting out Taylor Swift songs during the karaoke party that closes out Faculty Night.

They’re also making contingency plans to prevent first-years from overheating if there’s an end-of-August heat wave. 

Payne and Dryden are doing all their planning as volunteers. Since June, they’ve logged around 20 hours a week while working full-time at their co-op placements — Dryden’s a research assistant with the Child Health and Exercise Medicine Program at McMaster, and Payne is a research technician with the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in downtown Toronto. 

They spend their nights and weekends working on Welcome Week and replying to a never-ending stream of forms, texts and emails from the executive team, and each other. 

“I text Alice more than my family,” says Dryden. “My mom understands.” 

They’ll take unpaid vacations from their co-op placements to work from dawn to well past dusk during all five days of Welcome Week at the end of August. 

So why did they sign up for planning a weeklong celebration for more than 2,000 first-year students while continuing to work full-time at their co-ops?

They get asked that a lot, but it’s not something they ask themselves. Welcome Week’s a passion project for everyone involved, says Dryden.

“No one’s doing this to pad their resumes . . .  We’re doing this to bring everyone together for an unforgettable start of the year and to find their sense of home away from home.”